


The Detention Zone

by apocahipster



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood, Discussions of death, Discussions of violence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Underage Drinking, Violence, listen despite the tags its a very light hearted fic and the teens have a good time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 23:13:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 65,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13468608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocahipster/pseuds/apocahipster
Summary: A story following the drama surrounding the lives of the IPRE gang as they face real teen issues like popularity, homework, dating and trying not to burn down the school.A rowdy boy finds himself getting into trouble. An elf struggles with being so damn desirable and popular. A boy detective is enlisted to help solve several mysteries, and much, much more!





	1. Semester 1

**Author's Note:**

> >It’s a modern highschool AU  
> >Neverwinter high is a terrible amalgamation of the American school system and the Australian. Almost all my knowledge of the US school system comes from movies and fan fiction.  
> >Magic exists so everyone knowing sign language shouldn’t be unbelievable (playyyy with meee)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar for this semester  
> \- Magnus returns after a year-long break from school  
> \- Taako auditions for the school play  
> \- Angus is assigned a case regarding a certain $15  
> \- Barry Bluejeans tries to deal with his crush on a girl

It was late August when Magnus found himself standing at the jaws of a beast he had dreaded confronting for a while now. But face to face with the monster, he now realised that most of his fears had been in vain. He had imagined staring, whispers, gossip. Long distance photos taken like he was some celebrity to the paparazzi, or a cryptid coming out from the woods. He had imagined a million people swarming him, asking why he had been absent from school for an entire year. But the truth was, he really wasn’t that popular. Not many people had noticed his absence, and even less had cared at all.

Not a single person on the school grounds turned their head in his direction.

Still, he was worried he was going to do something stupid and unbelievably embarrassing, or permanent-record damaging, during his process of remembering how to be a student again. The length of a year was relative to what you filled it with, and for Magnus it had been a lifetime since he-

The bell rang. He was now late for class. On his first day back after a year.

“Fuck.”

Magnus rushes in.

 

 

Sometimes life was unnecessarily tough, but sometimes your first class was shared with your two oldest and best friends. Walking into the room with cheeks slightly flushed from jogging, Magnus’ Homegroup teacher gave him a long glare, sizing up this ragged looking boy who had a face of acne scars and unkempt peach fuzz. Someday it would grow into a mighty beard Magnus told himself in front of the mirror almost every day.

The familiar sight of a room filled with desks was one he never thought he’d miss, especially when two of the occupants were-

“Magnus!” Merle had unrestrained delight at the sight of his friend. In the seat beside him, Taako jumped at Merle’s outcry, eyes tearing away from a phone hidden under his desk. His lips curled into a cool smile. Reserved, but noticeably there.

“Please sit down so we can begin,” the teacher said. Magnus quickly shuffled between desks, sitting in the empty spot behind Taako.

Taako leaned to his left, catching the attention of a girl, and he hissed, “Tomorrow, we’re going to need that spot.”

She frowned at Taako, and said with mild befuddlement, “No.”

Taako blinked slowly. “Do you not know who I am?”

“No?” she said again, unimpressed and still confused.

“I’m Taako, from Instagram. And I need my good friend Magnus beside me. He’s a bit of an idiot and in need of every inkling of my help as he can get.”

From the front, the teacher glared in Taako’s direction and held up a finger to his lips to shush him, before he cracked open the class register.

The girl looked away from Taako, uncaring. Taako then did something he would only do for his dearest of friends. He said, “Please.” It was one of those rare moments which hit all witnesses like a brick. The sheer occasion of Taako saying something sincerely was baffling, and would cause mass hysteria if not for the fact that that would considerably piss off their teacher.

“Okay fine,” she whispered back.

A few chairs across, Merle was staring at Magnus, and when Magnus finally noticed, they exchanged a thumbs-up.

The teacher stood, clearing his throat. “My name is Mr Grimmaldis, and just because it is your first day back, that does not mean that we won’t be doing work. You’re in your second last year of high school now – unless any of you fail that is – which means much more work will be expected from you.”

“This man knows how to win students over, huh?” Taako said to Magnus. He was leaning back at a 45-degree angle in his chair, and able to practically whisper into Magnus’ ear. “Just starts the day off with a nice dose of threats.”

“Right, well, with expectations set. It’s time for an icebreaker.” If this man lived for the collective groan of twenty-five agitated students, he got his wish. “You know the drill, your name and one interesting thing you did over summer, starting from the front.”

Magnus was surprised by how easily he remembered who each person was. Outside of his friend group, other classmates had not occupied his thought-space recently, but names and personalities and memories of shared projects came rushing back. Honestly, he just didn’t care about most of them. He had only made an effort to keep in contact with his closest friends. Everyone else was basically background noise.

Merle stood at his turn. Chin held high, goatee glistening. His prosthetic arm rested on his stomach, ready to project his voice loud, confidently and with pride. “My name is Merle Hightower-”

“No, it’s not,” Taako said, making several people giggle. That collective response surprised Magnus. Since when did anyone actually think Taako was funny?

“Highchurch,” Merle continued. “Merle Highchurch is my name. And my summer was pretty lousy. Unless you consider Bible Camp and singing the same hymns about Pan over and over to be fun. In which case, you should really consider investing in other interests.”

Next was Taako, who flicked his hair over his shoulder as he stood. He posed, propping his hand on his hip and his other under his chin like some form of decorative teapot. “Hi. I’m Taako. You may know me from my Instagram success. While I’m not busy being a popular model presence online, I enjoy making magic… in the kitchen!” Magnus’ head thumped against his desk. “Our aunt bought a grill, and I asked myself what kind of man do I want Taako to be? Clear as day I envisioned myself as the holder of the title, World’s Best Grill Master. Unfortunately, before I could get very far through channelling my inner Dad, my sister blew up the grill. Literally. She studies arcana. She sets so many things on fire, we were not sure why our aunt bothered to buy a grill in the first place. We could’ve just walked past her room with a hot dog on a stick and bet on it being cooked by the time we were done passing,” Taako then let out a giggle, somewhat like a pageant laugh. It was staged, but apparently performed correctly, as several people laughed along. Taako took his seat again, grinning to the class like they were an entourage of fans. Magnus had definitely missed something while he was gone. Surely, Taako wasn’t… no there was no way… Taako couldn’t be… cool, could he?

No, absolutely not.

Right before it was Magnus’s turn to introduce himself, a boy with short hair and square glasses stood up. He mostly stared at his desk as he spoke. “My name is Barry B-. Barry. Just Barry. Man, I really wish I didn’t have a last name. And not much happened on the summer. Typically, I stay at home. But I met a really nice girl and we started hanging out and practicing magic together.” To his shock, the entire class let out a burst of laughter. “Oh god! No, I didn’t mean it like… that sounded like a bad innuendo, okay I’m done.” And he sat back down promptly. Taako’s face was completely buried in his hands, but his shoulders shook with laughter.

Magnus was still laughing as he stood, but the moment silence in the classroom fell, he finally felt that first-day-back anxiety he had been expecting. “Hello. I’m Magnus Burnsides. I guess technically I had the longest summer of everyone here, because I wasn’t at school all last year. As some of you may have noticed. For personal reasons. But I mean, I was already a year ahead before so technically I’m just where I should be. It was honestly kind of boring having so much time. I did some woodwork and built something really cool for my friends. I’m excited to show them that. That was my summer project.” Magnus gave a final shrug before sitting back down. And that was that.

 

 

At recess Magnus heard the pounding of feet approach, and he turned around in time to be whacked in the face by Lup as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly.

“You’re back, big boy!” she shouted.

“I’m back,” he muffled into her shirt. “I see you’ve turned into a boa-constrictor since we last met.” She laughed and he tightened his grip to hold her suspended in the air. Once sufficient squeeze-age had passed, he placed her down on her feet.

“How has school been treating ya?” she asked.

“All two classes I’ve had so far aren’t too terrible. Although I have to read an entire book by next week,” Magnus said.

“Did you forget to read it over the summer?”

“Lup, I think I forgot _how_ to read over the summer.”

“What were you even doing, we haven’t seen you since Merle’s birthday last month?” she asked.

“Apparently,” Taako butted in, “He’s been _Making something really cool for his friends_.”

“Oh sweet,” Lup said. “I hope to meet these friends of yours someday.” She followed her hilarious joke with a loud boisterous laugh and a strong clap to Magnus’ shoulder.

“So glad to be back,” he said, dryly. Honestly, deep down, the words were incredibly true.

 

 

It wasn’t until lunch time that Magnus had a chance to reunite with Angus McDonald. The boy detective was sat at a table surrounded by a crowd of people all gossiping together. When Magnus made his way through the crowd he realised that everyone had a copy of the same ‘Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop’ book, open to different pages and heavily annotated. Magnus watched a kid pull out a small corkboard from his backpack, and several people begun pinning their sticky notes and making string connections to it. It was utterly baffling to Magnus, but the moment that Angus, spotted him, the boy detective launched out of his chair to give him a hug.

“I haven’t seen you in so long!” Angus said. Magnus gave him a hug back, hoping Angus’ glasses would be safe where they were trapped between the two of them. High school sure had a lot more hugs than he had remembered.

“Hey, I missed you too,” he said. It was true. He hadn’t realised until this moment how much he had missed Angus. In his past, Angus had honestly been a fairly annoying presence. He had constantly hung around Magnus, Merle and Taako, not unlike a mosquito buzzing on and on about things none of them cared about, or offering input into 'older boy things' which he didn't yet understand. Now it seemed he had found ‘his people’. “What’s with all your book buddies?”

“I’ve started a book club. Everyone felt out of touch hearing me talk on and on about Cleveland mysteries without being in on the story. Besides, they’re so much more fun to read when you have others to help solve the mystery.”

The whole thing sounded astoundingly nerdy. But Magnus couldn’t deny that the swarm of people around him was evidence that extreme detective book club must have its appeal. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so popular. Angus wouldn’t be so popular. Was Angus… popular? Which reminded him…

“I have a mystery which I think you can answer. What’s the deal with Taako? Everyone like, actually pays attention to him when he acts full of himself and thinks his shitty jokes are funny.”

“Oh, that’s an easy one to solve,” Angus said. “Since he became the closest thing our school has to a celebrity, everyone has wanted to become his friend. Of course he’s a lot nicer online than he is in real life.” Angus covered his mouth with his finger, eyes wide. “Oh, oh dear. Please don’t tell him I said that, that sounded mean.”

“Don’t worry about it, Taako’s a dickhead. But a famous dickhead apparently?”

“Well, he’s Instagram famous. He’s a sponsored model. Have you not been keeping up with his social media? His account’s been booming lately.”

“No way? How much booming are we talking about here?” Magnus asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Last I checked he had reached seventy thousand followers.”

“Huh,” Magnus’ mouth said, but the rest of his brain spiralled off into a panic summarised by, _‘What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?’_

Soon people were tugging on Angus’ sleeve, demanding his attention back into the book discussion. The whole thing was giving Magnus inertia. Just the thought that people wanted to listen to Angus talk about his Kid Cop novels. He remembered lunchtimes of him, Merle and Taako absent-mindedly nodding along, with the occasional ‘Oh, yeah, interesting’ as Angus chattered on and on and on, oblivious to how much they were ignoring him. Maybe they had been terrible friends. Maybe the real mystery was why Angus was still friends with them at all.

Across the cafeteria Magnus caught sight of his more acquainted friend group, now complete with the company of Davenport and Lucretia at the table with the twins and the dwarf, as well as the human kid – Barry – from their homegroup class.

“I’ll see you round,” Magnus said as he left, which was hardly acknowledged by a distracted Angus.

Davenport gave him a nod as Magnus sat beside him at the table, and Lucretia smiled.

“So how is the Caleb Cleveland Cult fairing today?” Lup asked.

“I never thought I’d see the day that Angus became cool.” A million identical memories of the boy sitting alone in the library, reading or doing his homework, blur into one in Magnus’ mind. It is a striking difference to the broken voiced, broad shoulders of the Angus sitting a few tables away, surrounded by a swarm of friends. “Everyone’s changed so much since I was here.”

Davenport tapped his arm, and with his hands signed out “Says the guy who has grown an entire foot since I saw him last.”

“Yeah, says the man with an entire moustache,” Magnus rebutted. “You look like you could file my taxes.”

“Honestly Magnus, even without a year-long break nothing about high school makes sense,” Lucretia began, “People change every day almost. It’s a side effect of this strange quasi-state of being adult-children in which we live.”

“Tell me about it,” Taako said. “I can drive, and I’m famous, but I also need to ask permission to go to the bathroom. Not to mention, Mr Grimmaldis made us do _that_ icebreaker.”

“Wait,” Lup slammed her hand on the table, rattling some plastic cutlery. “You have Mr Grimmaldis! _He’s back?_ I thought he skipped the country.”

“You thought _what_?” Taako asked.

“He was only away for a semester, why… why could he skip the country?” Lucretia asked, saying the last part very slowly. Despite her utter disbelieve, she seemed genuinely concerned.

“He owes me fifteen dollars,” Lup said, crossing her arms and sitting back to give the cafeteria a scan. Her eagle eyes scoured for a certain Grimmaldis.

“Why would an adult man skip the country to escape a fifteen-dollar debt?” Lucretia asked. She let her head fall into her hands to massage her temple. “Actually, hold up, why does an adult man owe you fifteen dollars?”

“It’s a long story,” Lup brushed off. “One of which I am sworn to utter secrecy.”

“Could you like, write it down?” Merle asked.

“Sign it?” Magnus suggested.

“Fine well you see, it was two years ago when-” Lup proceeded to cover her mouth and make a strange spitting noise akin to a radio fuzz. “And if I tell anyone then he won’t pay me.”

“Okay, okay we get it. Sworn to utter secrecy. No prying whatsoever,” Taako said. “Barry do you know?”

Barry shook his head.

 

 

Fall leaves crunched under their feet as Magnus lead Lup, Lucretia, Davenport, Taako and Merle deeper and deeper through the forest. There had always been a small woodland area in their local neighbourhood, and it had been the home of many adventures in their youth, before the prevalence of Google Maps on their phones made the mystery of getting lost an impossibility. The further they wandered the easier it became to forget about the urban world they lived in, and Magnus, Merle and Taako especially, found themselves slipping into memories of their youth. Adventure games with cheaply crafted props and poorly followed rules, playing in this nature reserve they had named ‘The Felicity Wilds’.

The particular path they followed was more than familiar to Magnus, as it was one he had been treading near daily for the past several months. Taako was the first to notice the fixture partially hidden in the trees and pointed to direct the attention of the others.

“No damn way, is that a tree house?” Merle asked. Magnus failed to supress a huge smirk on his face. They all gathered under the wooden structure, staring up into the leafy canopy hiding the tree house.

“Is this your special surprise?” Taako asked. He turned to Magnus and tilted his head. “You know we’re _sixteen,_ right?”

“I built it,” Magnus explained. “Over the summer. As part of my therapy.”

Lucretia eyed the wooden ladder curiously, before giving it a test tug.

“Don’t worry I read all the right books. It’ll hold.”

Lup dared first, launching at the ladder and scaling it effortlessly. At the top, she peered down at her friends over the ledge. “Come on Taako, what’re you afraid of?”

Taako glared up at her. “I’m not afraid of anything, it’s just plywood clashes with my cashmere,” he said, but he took hold of the ladder regardless of his feeble excuse. Magnus was the last one up, ducking his way into the one roomed building. Admittedly, it was a little crowded for six people, but everyone seemed to appreciate the handicraft regardless.

“You know, with a few pillows and blankets, I can totally see us from ten years ago having wicked sleepovers here,” Lup said.

 “Yeah okay I get that it’s childish,” Magnus said. “I just needed a big project to fill my time.”

“Well, I like it Magnus,” Merle said, reaching up to Magnus. Magnus crouched down slightly so that Merle could pat his shoulder.

“Thank you, Merle.”

Davenport popped his head out the window, peering up to the sky. He turned back to sign, “I wonder what the view’s like at night? The light pollution must be at least somewhat less than my room. I could bring my telescope.”

“I’m not sure how safe it is leaving an expensive piece of equipment in the middle of the woods,” Lucretia said. Davenport offered her a shrug.

 “Oh, I can’t believe I missed this,” Lup said, pointing to the paintwork above the doorway. “He called the tree house _The Zone of Truth._ ”

It was a throwback to an old tradition which had begun amongst their group when they were 12. Entering the world of pubescence and high school had brought many embarrassing questions and fears. Merle in one of his very appreciated strokes of empathy, had concocted a game. Well, it was sort of a game. He had grabbed a stick and drawn a circle in the ground. Inside the circle was the Zone of Truth, where anything could be said, judgement free and with trust in honest answers and secrecy.

Honestly, naming a treehouse after a 12 year old’s promise circle was a little embarrassing. Actually, it was very embarrassing and Magnus begun to wonder why he had even bothered with this whole thing at all.

“This is great but I really don’t know what we’re going to do with a dank tree house in the middle of the woods,” Taako said. “I’m just being realistic. It looks great Magnus, lots of good work, good effort b-”

“Hey Taako,” Lup said. “Either be a good friend or shut the fuck up for like once in your life.” Taako was silent.

Lucretia cracked open her journal, privately writing a message about how very necessary Lup’s presence was to keep Taako from making a complete ass of himself.

 

 

About two hours had passed, and everyone had more or less settled down into different places in the treehouse. The decision to stay hanging out in there had more or less been a subconscious one. Lup and Taako sat together examining his Instagram feed from his phone. Davenport was trying to help Merle with his maths homework, while Lucretia had taken to headphones and writing poetry in her journal.

Magnus himself was trying to adjust to being a student again, but there was only so many pages of an assigned novel he could read before he needed a break. He went over to Lucretia who removed a headphone and smiled at him.

“Hey Lucretia, what’cha writing.”

“Just boring poetry,” she said. “But here, this might interest you.” She flicked back several pages through her journal before showing him a list.

_Tree House renovations_

_\- Curtains_

_\- Pillows_

_\- Blankets_

_\- Snacks… Raccoon concern??_

_\- Telescope_

And in Lup’s handwriting

_\- Porno Magazines_

Followed by Taako’s cursive

_\- Posters of Taako, signed_

“Uh,” Magnus said. “I guess this means you guys are interested in hanging out here then?”

“The reception works, so it’s fine by me,” Lup said.

Magnus tried to hide his stunned pride.

“Hey can one of you wizard twins cast us up a light?” Merle asked. “The afternoon shadow is making the book hard to read.”

“Why don’t you just pray for one, cleric?” Taako asked.

“Or use your phone?” Lup said.

“It’s too annoying to hold my phone up when you can just make a floating orb,” Merle said. “I thought you guys loved showing off your skills.”

Lucretia reached into her school bag, pulling out a wand and casting a quick light cantrip. Davenport signed her thanks. She narrowed her eyes with a smirk. “You’re welcome boys.”

 

 

It was only the second day of the school year when Lup found herself already needing to forcibly drag her brother out of his bed to get ready for school. In times of beauty sleep, he weighed a ton. Regardless of his sluggishness, by the time they were both doing their make up for the day, he was at the height of his hand eye-coordination prowess. She watched as he winged his eyeliner a solid 2 and a half centimetres long. That day he chose an especially glittery lipstick. It’s when he makes his eyebrows twice as thick as the usual she decides to comment.

“Trying to impress someone?” she asked, working on her own mascara.

“When am I not?” he asked. “You of all people know that just because I make it look effortless, the secret is to actually try really, really hard.”

“Oh trust me, _I know_. It’s just that you’re going above and beyond today. Or are caterpillar brows the new Taako look?”

“I’m famous now darling,” he said finally completing his brow and moving on to curling his hair. “I need to mix up the look. Gotta go that extra mile. I’m not just Taako Teen Heartthrob, I’m now Taako from Instagram. And tomorrow-”

“Yeah, yeah, tomorrow you’ll be Taako from TV, I know,” Lup said. For a moment she was afraid it had sounded condescending. She really did believe in her brother’s dreams. But rather than boost his ego, she went a more emotional route. “Just… don’t lose yourself in it all, okay?”

“Well while we’re judging each other’s’ looks, is that a denim jacket _on my sister?_ ” Taako said. Lup pulled a face at him in the mirror. “It looks fine but you’re on _thin fucking ice_. You should’ve gone with a white jacket and black skinny’s with a burgundy to neutralise it although I suppose the grey…”

Her brother’s words became silent to her, as her thoughts drifted, and with her drifting thoughts came a skip of her heart. This had been happening to her regularly as of late. Having her thoughts drift to a certain boy, that is; Ignoring Taako was a skill she had mastered long ago.

Taako talked during the entire drive to school, and Lup drove on auto pilot, parking their shared car in the usual spot. Together the twins sauntered across the courtyard side by side, and while Taako would pretend otherwise, no one really stared. No one’s lives stopped for their arrival. Well, except for one.

Barry caught sight of Lup, looking up from his book at her through his square framed glasses and giving her a warm lopsided smile. Having grown up surrounded by Taako, her aunt, watching beauticians and reading fashion magazines; Lup had become accustomed to seeing beautiful faces everywhere, but only after hours of work had gone into them. Not only that, years of her life involved studying make-up techniques, following beauty trends, researching hormones and hairstyles, and fashion and beauty had all become so artificial to her.

And then, she had met Barry. She had been drawn to his similar interest in planar physics and magical chemistry. And after hours spent listening to his voice, staying up until 3am on Discord chats, she had formed an emotional attachment to his presence. After hours of them hanging out together, playing video games or simply existing in each other’s space, she had detailed his face. He wouldn’t know a hair straightener from a pumice rock, but his skin had a natural blush, it had light freckling and acne and he never bothered to cover it. He didn’t really see a need to. It was just what he looked like. And Lup had grown an appreciation for the natural beauty he had.

But one thing made Lup’s heart skip just that little bit stronger each time she saw Barry. She knew, with absolute certainty, that he loved her natural beauty too.

The certainty was there, but she was sixteen and no one had exactly given her an instruction manual for having a crush. She knew the main step, talk to them.

Lup sat beside one Barry Bluejeans. “I can’t wait for our first magic lesson together,” she said.

“Me too. You’ve got quite a reputation to live up to,” Barry said. “Both of you.” It was true, the twins were not known to be humble about their magical abilities.

“Ugh yeah I _can’t wait_ for class,” Taako said. “You guys are such nerds.” However, he flashed them a grin.

“Come on Taako, even you like magic class,” she said.

“Like-d. Liked. When my teach’ wasn’t Magic Fucking Brian, useless extraordinaire,” Taako said, twinkling some jazz fingers.

“Maybe if you’re lucky you won’t get him this year. I guess I don’t really care who my teacher is, so long as Lup is in my class,” Barry said. Lup rubbed his arm affectionately and Taako sneered at them. He felt… odd. He was well accustomed to their flirting, after all Barry had spent every other day at their house during summer. Still, there was something deep down inside of him which struggled with their affection. He dared not show it, of course, Taako was always perfectly collected and cool.

 “I have to go and find some people who aren’t so passionate about school. You know, normal sane people. Ciao.” Taako walked briskly away. Time spent without a friend or a familiar face or some random fan was brief for Taako, and it would only be a short matter of time before he would encounter an acquaintance. In his brief absence of company, he became acutely aware of the ache in his shoulder muscles; a result of the sided weight from choosing a handbag to carry his text books rather than a sensible backpack. It was a heavy price to pay for fashion.

Physical pain was fine, but it was the feelings he couldn’t pinpoint, like the complex ones he got when he saw Lup and Barry together, which bothered him. Maybe it was brotherly protection instincts kicking in. But he actually trusted Barry. They had spent time together too, casual conversations, and Taako would never admit it but he liked Barry. He was interesting, and asked the right questions to play into Taako’s ego. He was especially happy for his sister, and seeing her face light up when she would talk about Barry made him happy too. If things went predictably, Lup would be the first of the two to start dating and they would start kissing, and holding hands and going on official dates. They would cuddle and get to be disgustingly cheesy in public and-

Taako nearly walked first face into Magnus’ chest.

“Woah there, watch it Taako,” he said with all the hostility of a dandelion. Which is to say, none at all, the big fluffy boy was unreservedly delighted to see him.

“You’re so enormously big it’s a miracle they could actually fit you inside the school,” Taako said defensively. “Here.” Taako pulled a quick manoeuvre involving taking Magnus' hand with the arm of his own bag and slipping the weight into the possession of Magnus instead. “Take-that-for-me-thanks-let’s-go-to-my-locker,” he said in one breath.

“Oh-kay,” Magnus said.

“So, Maggie how was your first day back?”

“11th grade has so much work! Holy shit. It wasn’t until ten at night I went to start my math work and realised the calculator had no batteries,” Magnus said. “You know having not really used it for a whole year. So, then I woke Mr Waxmen up cause I was rummaging through the drawers all over the house.”

“Waxmen sleeps at ten?”

“Yeah.”

“Ten PM?”

“Yeah, he comes home pretty tired, we have dinner and then whoomph. He’s out like a light. He has to get up early too so I felt _really_ bad for waking him.”

“Wow,” Taako said. They reached Taako’s locker, and he began spinning the dial.

“Oh yeah I nearly forgot my locker combination entirely too. That was a fun heart attack I got to experience yesterday.” Taako took his bag back from Magnus, throwing it inside the locker. “Now hold on, why don’t you carry your own shit Taako?”

“BeCAUSE, I gotta take care of my body.”

“And I don’t? I’m a human being not a pack mule.”

“Magnus, you’re really strong. You practically hit puberty and haven’t stopped talking about how really strong you are. If you’re going to constantly tell us how strong you are, you should expect that we will exploit this.”

“A small price to pay,” Magnus said, accepting his fate as the friend group’s strongman.

“Yeah, yeah never pass up an opportunity to flex, big boy,” Taako said. A strange feeling swelled in his chest, predicting his words would bring him sadness, but speaking them anyway, because they seemed entertaining to say, “Soon all the ladies will be paying to see you put on a gun show.” He pushed the feeling down into the depths of his being, alongside whatever sour feelings the concept of his sister dating seemed to cause him. Taako was an entertainer first and foremost. Taako was cool. Always.

“Says the guy who spends half an hour sculpting his face each day. The boys will be lining up for smooches from your uhh… lipsticky lips?”

“Nice try,” Taako said.

“I don’t know makeup. It’s all magic to me.”

“Yeah makeup is a lie. Me and Lup just cast Disguise Self on our own faces each day.”

“More like, Disguise Elf,” Magnus said. There was a pause of silence in which Magnus beamed with pride. “Well anyway, it looks great Taako,” Magnus said, offering a soft kind smile.

It was then that Taako finally realised that what he was feeling was a diverse and multi-faceted depression. This realisation made all his emotions resurface, and they came to him in a sudden wave. It was an unhappiness, a fear and a desire. And worst of all, it would not leave. It took a moment, a slow breath, and shutting his eyes only for a second, promising himself not to cry. He would sort it all out later, when he was alone and in privacy. The jealousy he had towards his sister’s happiness, and how it rattled him with guilt but also made his own needs claw at his heart. An unfulfillment he had been ignoring, yet a self-confidence that it was not necessary. All those emotions, he would hide for now.

Taako opened his eyes, his lapse barely noticeable. A coy smile, a painted face and a head held high. “And it’s forty minutes of make-up, thank you very much Burnsides.”

 

 

It was halfway through lunch on Magnus’ second day back when he heard a familiar scream which was followed by heavy thumping footsteps. He turned in time to be barrelled into by Carey, who crushed him in her arms, squeezing him with all strength she had attained through puberty, cheerleading, and a rigid martial arts routine.

“Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!” she squealed into his ear. After a long hug, she let go of him, to instead bounce up and down in front of him.

“Hey,” he said. Then, she punched him in the arm. “ _Hey!”_

“Why didn’t you find me yesterday? I haven’t seen you in months.”

“Sorry I just got caught up in things,” he said sheepishly. Luckily he knew Carey’s weakness. “Killian’s looking great, and… is that a robot she’s hanging out with?” he said spotting the Orc girl over at a table with several cheerleaders and what looked like a large futuristic toaster.

“Her name is No-elle.”

“Did you have a dream about her?” Magnus asked with a smirk.

"Does she ring my bell?"

"Does she wear Keds and tube socks?"

"No she doesn't she's a robot and doesnt have legs. You awful taste in music aside-"

"Hey!"

"-She’s going to be trying out for cheerleading in a few weeks,” Carey continued.

“Oh, she any good?”

“Are you kidding me?” Carey said, smiling and flashing her fangs. “No-elle’s practically already part of team sweet flips. With her on the squad, we’re going to make cheerleading history.” Magnus wasn’t really sure what _making cheerleading history_ consisted of, but he believed if anyone could do it, it would be them. “What about you, big boy? Returning to football?”

 “I haven’t played in over a year. I’m too old to join anything but the main team, and I’m too out of practice for that,” Magnus said, his voice becoming despondent as he reminisced on his athletic days a few years back. He remembered his last game distinctly. It had been an ice-cold night, but Magnus hadn’t felt it over the warm rush of adrenaline, and his own heartbeat thumping in his ears. In fact, he had only known it had been cold at all because Taako, snugged up in a heavy coat and scarf, had made a theatrical show of complaining about his frozen balls on their walk back to his house. It was a good game, but nothing cinematically spectacular in regards to Magnus. He had simply played his part. No shining moment of centre stage glory, but no notable fuck up either. He remembered that his dad and friends had cheered him on. And they had been proud. And that’s all that really mattered.

“How are you going to get all the girls to faun over you now?” Carey teased him.

“Guess I could join cheerleading,” Magnus said. He glanced back at Killian and No-elle. “That’s your plan isn’t it?”

Merle leant back in his chair, literally entering their conversation. “You could get an Instagram account. It seems to be working for boy-wonder,” he said, nodding his head towards where Taako was taking a selfie with several of his classmates.

“Yeah no,” Magnus said. “I already have to put up with people in my class asking about my scar, let alone thousands of strangers on the internet.”

Carey ruffled Magnus’ head at that, kissed his forehead at the top of his scar, exaggeratingly sloppily and gross. “A hundred strangers, if you’re lucky,” she said.

“Rude,” he said.

“You deserve it for that cheerleading comment.”

“Fair.”

“See you round, tough guy,” she said, and bounded off.

Once Taako’s entourage had dispersed he returned his attention to the table.

“So,” he began. “I have, _the worst_ teacher for magic studies. _And_ that’s coming from someone who had Mr Magic Fucking Brian last year.”

“Augh,” Merle said. “I thought they couldn’t get any worse?”

“This new guy just teaches us magic theory, and won’t show us any actual spells. He’s so obsessed with conserving his magical energy. It’s weird. Like, just show us the spells. You’re a teacher, it’s your job? What could possibly be so important that he’s saving his spell slots for later?”

“Maybe he has a secret double life,” Davenport signed.

“He’s probably a murderer,” Lup said. “Can’t be wasting those spells on little party tricks.”

“Yeah well, bad teaching aside he’s got the most annoying and incomprehensible voice,” Taako said. “So not only does he only do theory, he then talks for hours and hours like this, _‘Hellooooooo, my name is Mr Jenkiiiiiins.’”_

Barry snorted, leaning into Lup’s shoulder. Taako propped his head on his hands eyeing them with interest. “Barry, how do you feel about our teacher?”

“I want to give him more than one lesson before I start judging. But I honestly have no idea what he looks like, I couldn’t take my eyes off his bow tie. It was so distractingly tacky.”

No one had seen Taako’s face light up quite like it did in that moment. “Barold! You actually have learned something important after spending so many private hours with my sister. That bow tie is utterly atrocious, congrats for noticing you’ve earned yourself ten Taako Points.”

“Can I exchange them for a back rub?” he asked.

“If that’s your wish, cowboy,” Taako said, winking. There was a thump under the table, presumed to be Lup kicking her brother, hard. Taako let out a slow hiss of pain.

“Honestly if Taako and Lup are in the same magic class, I think it’s just a safety measure keeping you from casting spells,” Magnus said.

“Are you insulting our abilities?” Taako asked.

“More like over complimenting them,” he said. “I think the teachers are too afraid of what you can accomplish together.”

“Whatever, as long as we actually learn something practical I’ll put up with it. I don’t ask for much,” Taako said. “I just want to be able to pass my finals and be fully prepared for next year so I can get a really impressive study score contributing to getting a scholarship so I can attend Fantasy Harvard.”

“Wow Taako, I never knew you dreamed so big,” Lucretia said. “Academically, I mean. I know all about your celebrity plans.”

Suddenly, Taako become very coy. “Oh yeah well, it was just a thought.”

“That is super impressive,” Merle prompted.

“I haven’t actually done it yet,” he said. “Or if at all…”

“Transmutation is a really unique school of magic to specialise in too. So for scholarships, you have a decent chance at standing out,” Lucretia said.

“Even still, it’s very competitive,” Taako said. “Plus I’m fairly terrible at most other subjects, listen lets not get ahead of ourselves. Please.”

“Taako don’t be so modest, is a sentence I never thought I’d ever say,” Magnus said. “But seriously, you’re pretty brilliant.”

“No Magnus, noooooo,” Merle said dramatically. “Don’t fuel his ego, it’s already running in overtime.” Merle pretended to melt in his chair. “Taako’s becoming too powerful.”

“Oh can it Highchurch. Besides, it’s not a self-esteem issue,” Taako said, not knowing that he was lying. “Can we just go back to talking about Jenkins’ tie, or something less existential crisis-y.”

 

 

 

A impolite sigh escaped from Magnus, relieved to have finally reached the final page of ‘The Kite Runner’ at 5pm Saturday night. He threw the book across the treehouse and it bounced off the wall landing beside Lup. In the corner of the room, Lucretia winced at the rough handling of the novel.

“Did the end make you cry?” Lup teased, not looking up from her phone.

“No,” Magnus said. “It’s just a really depressing book. I hate the way high school makes us read depressing shit. We’re teenagers we’re already depressed. And teacher’s thing it’s a good idea to make us read about people dying, being tortured and raped? Hey teens wasn’t that fun and relatable? Time to make you read it 20 times over and over and write essays on it all.”

“I really liked it,” Lucretia said. She stopped writing, but kept her eyes on her journal. “It’s a good insight into another life and another culture. I loved reading about Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan, and then comparing it to his life in America.”

“Yeah well, I _loved_ reading about a someone’s dad dying,” Magnus said with a monotonous tone. A silence fell, and he instantly regretted what he had said.

“If you want to talk about it…” Lup began.

“No,” he said sternly. He took a heavy breath, forcing his voice to calm. “It’s no big deal.” The eyes of his friends lingered, and he hated having made them concerned. He had had a whole year of it and he didn’t want it anymore. He didn’t want the staring. He loathed the pity. “Really guys, it’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Well, as I was saying,” Lucretia continued. “I agree with you Magnus. Books like these can just make you feel bad for getting depressed over normal day things, like going to school or having a terrible teacher. Undermining the psychological struggle caused by these day-to-day activities which, in comparison, makes us teenagers seem contrived and unappreciative. Not to mention, the only queer representation is a violent warlord paedophile.”

“And they call it _classic_ literature,” Lup added. “So that teens who complain about how shitty it is, or how at least some parts are shitty, are called uncultured millennials. Maybe, old dudes are just shitty writers, _Mr Grimmaldis._ ” Everyone could practically hear her teeth grind, but her rage was interrupted by Lucretia’s laugher and she quickly opened her journal to scribble away.

“That’s a good point Lup,” she said. “But yes Magnus, even us book people who love reading can agree, sometimes school makes you read garbage.”

“But you don’t think this one is garbage,” he said, pointing to the novel on the floor.

“No. I think that one is pretty good. It has its issues, as all works do, but ultimately, it’s one of the few things school has assigned us which I like.”

 

 

Barry _liked_ school and he had been genuinely excited for its return after the long summer break. In his opinion, school was an efficient and effective way of learning.

Math class was his favourite, and while it was true that a lot of what they learned at 11th grade wasn’t useful to the average person’s life, he didn’t mind one bit. Primarily because he intended to pursue science, mathematics and physics beyond high school, and secondarily, because it was _knowledge._ He was of the firm belief that if the world had knowledge, if someone had discovered anything, then all people had a right to know it.

“Simply, I find value in pure knowledge, regardless of an apparent use or not. You get what I mean?” Barry asked.

Magnus gave him a slow shrug. Barry was very much an outsider when it came to Lup’s friend group. He had had enough time at her house over the holidays to get acquainted with Taako. While he would never, even begin to comprehend Taako as a person, he knew him well enough to consider him a friend. Magnus and the rest however, were complete strangers.

“I guess so,” Magnus said. “I just think they could teach us more important things, like taxes or how to fix a car.”

Barry didn’t know Magnus very well. Like most of Lup’s friends, he had sat with him at lunch but had no meaningful direct conversations. Regardless, this basic familiarity had driven them to sit together in math class, along with Merle, and Barry pondered the familiarity required to form a ‘friend group’.

Nearing the end of their class, most of the students had become restless, and general conversation now filled the room. Barry had long ago learned how to tune these distractions into easily ignored white noise, and it wasn’t until she spoke did he notice the girl who had planted her arms on Barry and Magnus’ shared desk.

“Magnus, you weren’t here last year right?” she asked.

“Right,” he said, not looking up from his work.

“Where have you been.”

“About,” he said.

The girl frowned at his demeanour. Barry looked between the two, the interaction barely an engagement, more a matter of Magnus being spoken at. Regardless, it was rather interesting.

“You know, everyone’s been talking about your scar?”

“Have they now?” Magnus said.

Barry looked back to his worksheet, not actually reading the questions as he listened in. Honestly, he had been extremely curious too. Of Lup’s friends, Merle had a prosthetic arm, Davenport couldn’t, or didn’t, speak, and Magnus had a giant scar running down his face. He hadn’t asked about them, not even asked Lup, but he was a human being, and a scientist; curious by nature. He just tried not to be an ass about it, unlike some people.

“So, what’s the story.”

Magnus finally stopped writing and was silent for a long moment. “I got it fighting a bear.” The girl frowned at him, lost in confusion. “I only stepped in because the bear was trying to kill the lord governor.”

“What?”

“It was very heroic,” Magnus said.

The girl didn’t respond and chose to give up, returning to her desk of friends. Of course, it was only a matter of seconds before they were all laughing, undoubtedly at Magnus’s childish response. High school was a place of knowledge, but it was also a cesspool of teenagers who gossiped and teased.

“Hmm, do you reckon I should’ve said that the bear _was_ the lord governor?” Magnus asked.

It took Barry a moment to catch up on the joke. “Oh uh, well then it would seem like you were fighting the lord governor, which would count as treason. I guess it depends on how patriotic the asker is?”

Magnus tapped his pencil to his forehead. “Good thinking, Barry.”

Barry was also thrown by being called by his actual name, and not Barold. It was a pleasant change.

 

While math was fantastic, science class came at a close second. Actually… magic was his favourite but only because a certain lady had tipped those scales. Regardless of his romantic feelings, science class was pretty cool in Barry’s opinion. It was also where he first properly interacted with Davenport and Lucretia. The two of them were like a breath of fresh air, and Barry could freely talk about how much he loved science theory, and not just the part where they get to blow things up.

Barry preferred chemistry and physics, while Davenport had a stronger interest in environmental science and Lucretia in biology. Together they shared an instant, unspoken agreement to be science partners at every single chance they got.

Their friendship began with asking for homework help online. Then it was through idle conversation in class. One group project with optional partners later and Barry realised he had genuinely become a part of Lup’s friend group.

Which of course brought with it, the friendly interjection into his love life. After talking about Lup too many times in passing, or purposefully bringing up how amazing Barry thought she was, Davenport would give him a light elbow nudge, to the point where he was almost bruising with how frequently this occurred. Lucretia took a more direct approach, listing ideas for first dates they could go on.

“Lup would love the new ‘Now you see me’ movie,” she said. “Illusory magic performed by non-magicians always entertains her. She’d also like to check out the patisserie that’s just opened up in town too, probably to steal recipe ideas, but I hear it’s nice. Oh, and you should totally bring her flowers. She puts on a tough act, but she would absolutely melt at any hint of romance.”

Barry would try to brush off the interference, but honestly, Lucretia gave really good advice. Her journal probably contained more information about Lup than Lup knew of herself.

“But seriously,” Lucretia said grabbing Barry’s arm. “She deserves to be swept off her feet.”

Barry looked stared back at her, deep into her eyes. “I know.” He stepped back slipping from her grasp, and then he hoisted his books from his locker, because he was also a teenage kid who had school work to worry about on top of everything else. “I’ll see you at lunch Lucretia.”

He could talk with Lup with ease, and she laughed at his jokes, and sent him memes. He was fairly certain she liked him, but he was sixteen and no one had exactly given him an instruction manual for having a crush. Barry had never been in a relationship before, and he couldn’t find the answer in any of his text books, nor did he think he could ask his science teacher…. Actually maybe he could… no… no he couldn’t ask Mr Lucas for help on dating.

Maybe he was wrong about Lup entirely. Or maybe he was just afraid. Or maybe he was overthinking all this.

He was certain of one thing, he really, really liked Lup.

And the thought of asking her out, like a mature adult man would, the concept of asking a _cute girl_ on a _date_ , made him feel very much like a man who knew nothing at all.

 

 

“No, no you can’t use the default filters. There’s hardly enough choice, it’s tacky and cheap and their effects just hide your natural beauty,” Taako said. The small crowd gathered around him, nodded along, all desperate to hear advice from the pro. Lucretia stood on her toes, stuck at the periphery of the group, trying to get a view of Taako’s phone.

“What’s going on?” Merle asked under his breath.

“I think they’re getting blogging tips?” Barry guessed.

“Instagram isn’t a blog, you oaf,” a boy said from behind them. Magnus, Merle and Barry turned to see Edward, a senior elf boy who dressed like a Disney channel star. He sneered in the direction of Taako with his arms crossed. Maybe he was more of a Disney channel villain, with his sharp claw like nails and blinding gold, fur lined jacket making him look like a poisonous reptile to touch. “And they’re learning from the wrong person.”

“I don’t know, he’s probably really popular for a reason,” Barry said.

Edward scoffed. “He’s hardly _huge_.”

Taako, inflecting his sixth sense which could detect when he was being talked about, made his way into the conversation, abandoning his entourage of fans.

“What’s that is someone talking shit behind my back,” Taako asked. He looked Edward up and down before adding, “Oh no you twins don’t have the tact to do anything behind someone’s back. You’re always so-” he waved in the general direction of Edward’s gold jacket “-blindly present.”

“You talk big Taako, but you’re not even that popular,” Edward said.

“Oh sorry, who is the one celebrating one hundred-kay followers?”

“Me and Lydia’s accounts combined are far over-shadowing your,” he said. Between the two of them, Barry, Magnus and Merle’s heads turned back and forth with the conversation.

“ _One._ I said, ‘who is the _one’._ Combined doesn’t mean anything sweetie _,_ ” Taako said rolling his eyes dramatically. “You know, I have a twin too, but we both figured out how to be individuals. We could give you some tips sometime, if you ever feel like finding your own personality hidden somewhere under all that plastic jewellery.”

“It’s a good thing Lup isn’t into social media. After all she’s smarter, prettier, cooler, funnier, well, better than you in just about every way.” Edward did some sort of shrug with one shoulder. “She’d far overshadow you. And you’d just be… ‘Lup’s brother’.”

“Did you just, try to insult me by complimenting my sister a bunch?” Taako asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Jokes on you, I love my sister.”

Edward gave a long watchful size up of Taako. “Whatever, we’ll see who is the real star at the play audition.” He turned and walked away, his walk like a strut and the hall full of sweaty teenagers his runway.

“I am still, entirely baffled by that exchange,” Magnus said.

“God I can’t imagine being so full of myself as those twins are,” Taako said. Magnus and Merle exchanged a quick glance. “I can’t believe I used to want to join their gang.” He let out a mock gag.

“Come on, its time to drop all this hoopla about Insta-whats-it. It’s all digital. It’s just numbers on a screen and code in a computer,” Merle said.

“What’s your point skeevy man?” Taako asked.

“We should be putting down the phones. Dropping the rivalry and self-obsession they cause. Focusing on what’s real. Getting down to earth.”

“No, Merle honestly, what’s your point?” Taako asked.

“Haven’t you heard Merle,” Magnus said. “Taako is kind of a big deal. His time is very precious.”

Merle let out a grumble under his breath, “Assholes. I want you guys to follow me outside so I can go join the gardening club.”

“Yeah okay fine, lead the way,” Taako said.

“I didn’t even know this school _had_ a gardening club?” Magnus asked.

“What did you think that big glass building out on the yard was for, big guy?” Merle asked.

“Detention?”

Taako laughed. “Bad and naughty kids get put in the roast cube.”

 

 

Lup’s morning routine went a little like this.

It began with dragging her brother out of bed and down into the kitchen, where they alternated who did the cooking that day and who was the dawdler who annoyed the other while they cooked. Just because it was a school morning, that was no excuse not to eat gourmet.

She fried up some eggs while her brother constantly reached over her to pluck lint off her night robe, trying to convince her of the benefits of switching to silk. Her own breakfast is served with a side of anti-androgen pills, oestrogen, and her brother judging her for using too much cooking oil.

Then they both headed upstairs to the bathroom, taking turns brushing teeth while the other showered. About forty minutes was spent on makeup each day. Taako was one for eyeliner and vibrant eyeshadow, while Lup preferred mascara and a prominent lip design.

She returned to the bathroom to show off her outfit of the day.

“Denim again, Lup?” Taako said, eyeing her waist high denim shorts.

“They look good with the tights,” she said defensively. She never needed his approval for fashion, but she respected his eye.

“Yeah, I’m sure Barry would agree,” he said, closing his eyes and spritzing his face with setting spray.

Lup kicked him. “Yeah, yeah hurry up and pose.”

Each day she took about twenty photos of her brother, hoping he would deem at least one Instagram worthy. They do a final check of each other’s looks, before kissing their aunt goodbye and heading to the car. It’s Taako’s car technically, but he prefers making her drive it so that he can sit on his phone for the journey.

Together they arrive at school, fashionably on time. Looking stellar. Picture perfect. Excellence always.

To Taako, Neverwinter high was like dollar store make up; pretty enough to anyone who didn’t have an eye for quality. While the building itself was impressive from a squinting distance, with its white walls and carved columns, the whole thing was clearly cheap and tacky when properly examined. The plastic desks had a fake wood print on them, a sad replica of sturdy oak. Half the library books were vandalised and the vending machines were filled with stale food. However dim the value, when Taako sat in a plastic chair, he always poised himself like he was on a throne. A quality person needn’t a quality environ to position himself as a star.

Of course, it was high school. Regardless of how superior he studied and performed above his classmates, he was still told off for playing on his phone while the teacher taught the same basic cantrips over and over to the kids who couldn’t quite get it. He could cast them in his sleep, but it was apparently ruining his education if he considered Instagram a more valuable use of his time. He still got detention in sport for wearing earrings, and saying his heels were new and hard to walk in wasn’t a valid reason for being late to class. He was treated like an equal, and when he was so evidently above the rest, that was just unfair.

“Other kids work. They flip burgers or they give out flyers or whatever I don’t know,” Taako said, waving his hands.

“I’m a waitress,” Lucretia said.

“I’m a shelf stacker,” Davenport signed.

“Yeah, and it’s _hard,”_ Taako said. “I’m a model. That’s what I _do_. But do the teachers care? No. Aren’t they supposed to support my career, not actively antagonise me for it. They tell me off for too much make up. How is that even remotely a problem? How can too much eyeliner ruin my scores? How are false nails going to destroy my employability?”

“I think that’s a safety thing?” Barry said. “Like they count as weapons. At least that’s what Lup said.”

Taako wrapped an arm around Barry’s shoulders. “My good Barold Jay Bluejeans. Lup was, as you would say, fucking with you. It’s because the teachers are jealous of our fire looks.”

“Yes of course that makes much more sense,” he said.

Lucretia took pity on Barry. “It’s because they’re dangerous in PE class, you could damage equipment, accidently hurt a classmate, or they could break off and require being sent to the first aid office. And of course, as well all know, PE teachers are basically liches who feed off suffering. They would never allow any excuse to take time off sports, so they minimise the hazards to maximise the torture.”

“Oh, that does make a lot more sense than the weapon thing.”

“You really would fall for anything Lup tells you, wouldn’t you?” Davenport signed.

“I don’t fall for it. I just, respect everything she ever says to me ever and treat her words like a holy gospel. God, she’s amazing. Even when she’s ‘fucking with me’ she’s pretty great.”

“While we’re on the subject of my sister, when are you going to ask her out already?” Taako said.

Barry turned several shades paler. “What?!”

“Please for the love of Pan get _on with it_. She keeps blasting Lana Del Rey’s ‘Blue Jeans’ from the shower while I’m trying to do my homework. There’s only so much of my sister’s angst I can take and I’m nearly at breaking point.”

“Well… ah… if you think… well you see… she’s just really cool… and I…”

“Barry, no one knows my sister as well as I do,” Taako said. “So, take it to heart when I say that you’ve got nothing to fear.”

“Really?”

“Really. No fucking with you, guarantee.” Then, Taako leant forwards on the table, tilting his head to a scowl. “But listen here Barry Khakislacks, if you hurt her keep in mind that the two most powerful wizards Neverwinter High has ever seen will come after you, and we _will_ fuck you up. Then we’ll bring you back to life, just to fuck you up all over again.”

Barry looked down as his food, now unable to swallow. In fact, he was struggling a bit to breathe. But beneath his fear there was a determination, and an almighty curiosity which came with it. What would happen if he asked Lup out on a date? And what kind of scientist would he be if he let fear conquer his curiosity.

Well, not a very good scientist at all.

 

 

Magnus’ morning routine went a little something like this.

He began by ignoring the beeping of his alarm for as long as he could before it grew far too annoying. Then he’d drag himself out of the bed and search the floor for clothes which seemed acceptably clean thanks to his good pal, the sniff test.

Downstairs he’d eat toast, or if he was particularly late, just plain bread shoved into his mouth. Mornings were spent alone, Mr Waxmen long gone to work in the early hours. A buzz on his phone would remind him to take his anti-depressants, which were followed by hastily brushing teeth, before throwing books into his bag and racing out the door. He typically arrived at school with a few minutes to spare, depending on how fast he ran.

Taako was fussing over Magnus’ hair at lunch, making some excessive claim about there being a difference between a fashionable messy bun and a literally messy one.

Across the yard there was the pitter patter of a crowd running to the notice board. Magnus focused his vision, noticing undercuts, feet tapping to an unheard tune, a few fake tans and printed shirts advertising old school shows.

“Theatre kids?” he said. “What are they doing outdoors?”

Taako’s head shot up. “The school play schedule!” He leapt from the bench, abandoning Magnus and the rest of his friends to make a half-jog half-waddle journey in his new heels across the yard. People didn’t seem to mind as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

The rest of the table waited patiently for Taako to scope out the poster.

“My girlfriend,” Barry said. Lup grinned at him, red cheeked and full of delight.

“My boyfriend,” she said.

The rest of the table were silent.

“It still feels strange, but great!” Barry said. “My. Girlfriend.”

“My boyfriend,” Lup said. “He’s my boyfriend, whom I am dating.”

Lucretia took a long slow sip from her thermos. Merle suddenly felt a great sympathy for Lup’s brother who had undoubtedly been putting up with something similar all morning. He wondered if Barry had any siblings and how close they were to kicking his ass.

Upon Taako’s return, Lup asked, “So what’s the play?”

“The Suffering Game?” he said with an uncertain inflection.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Barry said.

“Neither have I,” Taako said. A flash of panic crossed his face. “Oh fuck, I think it’s a teacher written one.”

“Aw shit those are usually garbage,” Lup said.

“They’re typically written to accommodate a large mass of background extras,” Taako said.

“Unideal for someone who wishes he was the only person performing,” Lucretia said.

Magnus remembered two years ago the play had been Pinocchio, and he himself had auditioned for a role. He had ended up in the extras section, like almost all middle school students. The senior who got the lead part had unnerved Magnus. He could dance in a way with purposeful rigidity, moving just like a wooden toy. There was something about mannequins Magnus had always found disconcerting. Being propped and posed and forced to do the bidding of others. It was beyond his comfort zone, and he had nearly considered dropping out of the performance entirely.

“So, are you still going to audition, Taako?” Merle asked, drawing Magnus from his anxiety memory spiral.

“Am _I_ going to try to audition for the high school play?” Taako asked. “Am _I,_ Taako, going to have an attempt at landing a gig where I get to be the centre of attention for an evening? To get a teacher approved chance to be over dramatic and adored by hundreds.”

 “I take that as a yes then,” he said.

“Absolutely. There’s this role for a male show host, and the description was, ‘Loves attention, carries himself like a diva, is secretly a lich.’”

“Woah,” Lup said. “A lich? This story sounds wild.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think the school would approve something like that,” Barry said. “Most schools don’t approve texts which even mention necromancy.”

“Yeah but a lich would make any story way more interesting,” Lup said.

“I don’t know. Liches are kind of scary,” Barry said. “When you study magical sciences, the very idea of necromancy messes with your core understanding of the world. Like the fundamentals about the conservation of energy is compromised by the idea of re-animation because we move by being driven by-”

“Whatever,” Taako said. Across the yard he saw Lydia and Edward, arm in arm stride towards the poster. “It’s a great part and it was made for _me_.”

 

 

Magnus tried to ignore the movement in his periphery as a boy in the desk beside his constantly turned to stare at him. He thought he was being subtle, but Magnus was already hyper aware of when people were looking at his scar. Even after a month of being back he couldn’t be treated like another background student. It was the curse of being the kid who mysteriously left for a year and returned with an ominous scar cutting down his brow and cheek, and what came with the curse was gossip and constant starring.

Two years ago he, and in fact all of his friend group, had been practically invisible to the other students. Now people constantly took photos with, or of, Taako. People flocked to Angus bursting to share new conspiracies regarding to Caleb Cleveland or some other personal mystery. People had always whispered about Merle’s missing arm, or Davenport’s muteness, and even Lucretia’s reclusive personality, but now they also whispered about him. He had always been defensive of his friends, but now he knew what it felt like first hand, and he was beginning to feel like he hadn’t been defensive enough. How Taako liked, thrived and fed off the attention, he’ll never understand. He supposed there was a difference between positive adoration attention, and attention which constantly reminded him of the car accident which had upturned his life.

Magnus tried to concentrate on the questions in his textbook. He read the first one, without processing it at all. He tried to read it again. And a third time. And he looked at his blank paper.

What would his therapist say? That he’s not practicing mindfulness? How did he _feel_? He was angry. Agitated. He was restricted. He wanted to be out of his chair. He wanted to be out of sight. Curled up in some blankets in the Zone of Truth, and there he could do his work perfectly fine. And Lucretia and Lup could help him with the work.

He looked at the clock. Half an hour of class to go.

He shouldn’t be struggling this badly. Across the room he saw Barry. He seemed the nerdy type. He could ask for help, but then again he didn’t think he could stand being explained too right now. Even though he tired to hide it, Barry constantly stared at his scar too.

Was it polite trying to hide it. Or was it better for other students to be upfront about their cruel curiosity. “Go ahead and ask,” Magnus said.

The boy looked shocked for a moment before asking, “What’s the story behind the scar?”

“I saved a kitten from a burning building.”

“You… wait what?”

Magnus acted quickly, thumping the other boys arm with his fist, and making the desk pound. The teacher looked up from his table, trying to determine the source of the noise, only seeing Magnus focusing on his own work.

And Magnus _had_ returned to his work. He absolutely, completely successfully, forced his brain to concentrate on his work. No distractions. No bullshit… Except that’s not how brains worked at all. In his periphery, every whisper, every giggle, every sound and movement was perceived as being directed at him. Questioning. Judging. Gossiping.

 

 

The school presentation space was made to fit hundreds of students and their parents, making its vacancy eerie when the audience consisted only of two drama teachers, Johann the music teacher, and a few dawdling students with nothing better to do during their lunch time than see their friends audition for the school play.

Most of the students who auditioned read only a few lines, the minimum requirement for receiving a background role. There were five senior girls competing for the lead role of female hostess.

“Loyalties aside,” Lup whispered to her friends beside her. “Lydia is the obvious choice for the role. She makes a great bitch. Oh, did I say bitch I meant lich… no I meant bitch.”  
Barry failed to supress his snort which partially echoed in the large room. Magnus let out an unrestrained bellow of a laugh, careless of the volume.

For the lead male, Edward put on a great performance, but no one commanded the stage like Taako. Taako had _dressed_ for the occasion, while everyone else had shown up in their school casuals. A long dark robe was tacky and cliché, but Taako filled the part he looked, and it was almost spooky how easily Taako took on the persona of the wicked yet secretly broken, attention seeking monster.

“What is the best form of advertising?” Taako said, his voice projected and enunciated clearly, all served with a smile. Then he whipped his head sideways, striking a pose, his hand raised high as sparks shot from them casting a simple cantrip. He held a ghostly stare directly into the souls of the drama teachers. “Why, word of mouth, of course.” He held the pose and under the auditorium lights, his whole outfit shimmered with a fine layer of glitter.

From up in the seats, Barry whispered to his friends, “How does he do that? He seems so at ease with so many people looking at him.”

“He may as well be a lizard and those spotlights be his heat lamp,” Merle said. “He feeds off attention. Performance. _Drama.”_

 “Even in front of an audience who are pretty much just his own friends, I don’t get how anyone can do that,” Barry continued.

“The whole school may as well be his friends,” Magnus said. “I don’t think he gets stage fright. Or social fright. Or suffers from any sort of problems regarding other people really.”

“Ah, an extrovert,” Barry said. “I think I read about them in a book once.” It was Lup’s turn to make a loud cackled laugh, which drew the attention of her brother on stage. He blew her a kiss and a wink.

“I can even heckle the audience, if things go extremely terrible,” Taako said. In the corner of the stage, Lydia scoffed, but the drama teachers laughed, and Johann gave him a thumbs up.

Next were a group of students who were trying out for the roles of monsters. The sounds of teenagers trying to make roaring noises was far from pleasant. Magnus watched the head of one of the drama teachers, Greg Grimmaldis, fall into his hands. He rubbed his temples firmly, willing himself not to walk out on his job right then and there. But the sight of a stressed Grimmaldis reminded Magnus…

“Hey that’s Angus,” Magnus said pointing down the rows of chairs to the only other students in the audience seats. “I’m gonna go say hey.”

Lup barely acknowledged him, too busy whispering in her boyfriend’s ear as Magnus began the long sideways shuffle out of his row, and then the descent down towards Angus.

“Hey boy detective,” Magnus said in a harsh whisper. “How would you like to help me solve a mystery?”

“You know nothing would delight me more!” Magnus had forgotten Angus had never developed an inside voice.

“Shhh, it’s about Mr Grimmaldis, and Lup,” Magnus began. “And they’re both here right now, so you gotta stay real quiet.” Angus gave a conspiratorial look around, locating both people in question. “Apparently, he, a grown up adult teacher, owes _her_ fifteen dollars. And she won’t tell us why.”

“That sure is curious,” he said. “I’m going to need all you’ve got on the case. Any clues or leads so far?”

“Well I know she won’t tell us what it’s about, but she did mention that the debt was incurred before the start of the last school year. Also, she thought that the reason Grimmaldis wasn’t teaching last semester was because he skipped town to avoid paying her.”

“Why would he skip town to avoid paying a sixteen-year-old fifteen dollars?” Angus asked.

“Because Lup’s full of bullshit,” Magnus said. “He probably left for some normal reason but being part Taako she assumed it was about her.”

“A mystery for sure,” Angus said scratching his head. “Well, Lup must have some motivation for not outright telling you what the money is for. But a debt over a year old which she still upholds must be especially memorable. I trust Lup, she’s a good girl so I’m sure it’s nothing sinister but we can’t rule out anything.”

“She’s not a drug dealer,” Magnus said bluntly.

“ _Anything,_ ” he said again wiggling his fingers.

“She probably bought him Cheetos or something and he stuffed his face and she got a photo of it as blackmail.”

_“AnYtHiNg…”_

Magnus reached out and pulled Angus’ newsboy hat down over his eyes. Angus’ glasses were knocked askew and he giggled furiously. It was a therapeutic sound, a fun-loving teenager who didn’t care that giggling was totally not cool. Magnus chuckled too, and he was extremely glad this cool, cool boy was his friend.

 

 

Taako sat on the kitchen counter, legs swinging back and forth staring pointedly as his sister made them both pancakes. After Lup was done pouring batter into the pan, she caught her brother’s eye.

She stared back. Taako began to wiggle his eyebrows, and she returned the gesture. A whole minute of eyebrow wiggling commenced, during which Lup flipped the pancake, not breaking eye contact.

“Soooooo,” Taako said, eyebrows finally growing tired, and settling to join the sly grin on his face.

“Sooooooooooo?” she said, leading the conversation along.

“Barry is a nerd,” he said.

“He really is,” she said.

“He likes maths and books and science.”

“Yes, it seems as though we are talking about the same Barry.”

“He especially likes science about the fundamentals of magic and figuring out how magical items work. Like, scientifically. Or something.”

“Very nerdy interests,” she agreed.

“Yes, but they’re also _your_ nerdy interests.”

Lup gave Taako a sharp smile, before she tipped the pancake onto a plate and poured more batter.

“He also came over nearly every day on the summer break,” Taako said, giving his eyelashes a flutter.

“Because I invited him,” Lup said.

A moment of silence passed, and Taako’s dramatic charade seeped out of him in one slow breath. “He makes you happy. And that’s good. He’s good.”

“Thanks Taako.”

“He’s a HUGE NERD. But I like him.”

“THANKS TAAKO!” Lup flipped the pancake again. “And what about you, my extremely picky brother? Developed a crush on any boys? Well, ones who actually like you back?”

“I’m not picky, I’m selective.” Taako pressed the back of his palm to his forehead, letting out a groan, before switching into his theatre mode. “Woe is me. Adoration abundance, from those whom I have no eyes for. Here I am, a star of youth. Single. And do you know why LuLu?”

Lup rolled her eyes with a smile. “Because no one is good enough for Taako. Have you seen me?” she mocked her own brother’s voice. “I’m Taako, you know, from Instagram? Why am I still single? I guess I must just be lucky.” Lup mimicked flicking her hair over her shoulder. Taako kicked his sister. “Yowch, okay. But seriously, are you alright?” she asked.

Taako’s leg remained swinging, slowly losing momentum. “Yeah, I’m just really happy for you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find your own Barry someday,” she said.

“I hope not!”

“Fuck you,” Lup said. She flipped the now cooked pancake onto a plate and slid it across the bench to Taako. He took it, and it was shaped like a heart. “I love you, but god you’re a douche.”

“Love you too, Lup!”

 

 

Despite having a year off, Barry soon came to realise that Magnus was quite adept at mathematics. Lup had mentioned something about him building a treehouse over the summer, and Barry didn’t know much about architecture and woodwork, but the project seemed like the kind of thing which required heft and vital calculations. Still, while Barry tried to be an unbiased person, he had honestly expected Magnus to struggle in this subject. And while he tried to be humble, he had expected the need to offer his mathematical expertise. And while he tried to be grateful for all resources he had with which to learn, he was secretly a little spiteful of when he needed to ask Magnus for assistance, although this was not very often.

Conversely Merle’s mathematical abilities were nothing to be enviable of. The man was just absolutely useless with numbers.

Barry almost jumped when the dwarf’s head thumped on the lunch table. “Just, give it one more go Merle, you can get it,” he said.

“It’s useless. Give up on me now.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually,” Barry said standing up. “I’m going to go get some cookies from the cafeteria. Maybe they’ll be the pick-me-up you need.”

Merle responded with a strangled moan, his head still face down on his textbook.

As Barry reached the cafeteria line, he was right beside Angus’ table, where his usual cult of Caleb Cleveland fans were congregated. It was hard to conceive that Angus was a year level above him, and for a moment Barry wondered if being bumped up a year hindered your chances at getting good scores. Lup really didn’t like the way the competitiveness of final years got to students, but Barry’s mind just worked differently to hers. He couldn’t help but calculate study results and compare methods of learning and predict how each person he knew would place. He wondered if Angus did the same. Hell, he was certain if anyone knew what each students’ final marks would be, it would be Lucretia; always documenting the behaviours of those around her.

A pair of students came up to Angus, and Barry eavesdropped with absolutely no shame, especially since they had been mostly staring at Merle. Barry looked over, feeling sorry for the defeated look his friend gave the math book.

“Hey Angus,” one of them said. The boy detective looked up from his novel, eyes gigantic behind his thick glasses. “Do you know how Highchurch lost his arm? I figured if anyone’d know a secret like that, it’d be you.”

Angus adjusted his glasses and then meticulously straightened his sweater vest. He cleared his throat and silence fell over his table. “Ah, well you see, the real mystery, is why my good dear friend Merle’s disability, is any of your gosh-darn business?”

Barry nearly chocked from where he stood in line. Containing the sound proved easy when Angus’ crowd cheered the boy detective on. There was something very admirable about Angus, Barry decided. Unlike Lup’s brother, Angus didn’t use his popularity as a safety net to act more like an ass. He remained grounded and humble and surrounded himself with good company with good morals. Not followers for followers’ sake, but likeminded bonds. People who didn’t care if it was uncool to be nice.

He was, a good, good boy.

Who was also in his senior year. One year higher than Barry. And undoubtedly was going to get impressive study scores.

Barry moved along in a line for cookies, like the grown mature teenager he was comparatively.

 

 

It was the start of lunch several weeks later, when one Angus McDonald slid up to Magnus on the courtyard.  “So I’ve been thinking about the Grimmaldis case,” he introed. It was a risky place to discuss things, but they were alone from familiar ears and thus seemingly safe for now.

“What have you got?”

“Not much. But I was intrigued by the fact that Lup is sworn to secrecy. Presumably, Mr Grimmaldis is mandating this silence, which means that whatever took place must violate some school rule.”

“Or the law. You know, the adult rules,” Magnus suggested.

“Potentially. Maybe his job would be at stake.”

“It could just be something _super_ embarrassing. Like maybe his pants fell down.”

“Now that would also breach some school rules,” Angus said. He tapped his glasses. “And seeing as Lup insinuated that Mr Grimmaldis would leave the school to avoid his comeuppance for whatever took place, I think your embarrassment theory has merit Mr Burnsides.”

“Why thank you, Mr McDonald.”

“Of course, the investigation has only just begun and-”

“Shh, shh,” Magnus put his hand over Angus’ entire face to silence him, as he saw his friends approach in the distance. Taako was practically dancing as he walked, flicking his hair and trying to ignore Lydia screaming into his ear.

“You overrated brat your audition wasn’t even that good!”

“Well, the judges say otherwise,” Taako said. “And that’s all that matters when you’re the winner darling.”

“They’re teachers. You cast a few sparkle cantrips and of course they think you’re a genius. Just because all the other students are too stupid to tell their wand from their dicks. Whereas me and Edward performed for our roles legitimately, without pandering.”

“Pandering is the way of the stage. Teachers want to see you play to an audience,” Taako clicked his fingers and a shower of glitter rained down on him. Lydia scoffed like she was suffering from a particularly sour taste in her mouth.

Merle took the lapse in back and forth to try peace-making. “Listen the two of you are going to be co-stars. You’re both leads! That’s awesome. This is your chance to put your squabble aside and work together to put on a great show. And maybe even become friends?”

“It should’ve been Edward,” she said, completely ignoring Merle. “I’m great but together we’re exceptional. Taako took that away from him.”

“What do you mean?” Merle asked. “Edward still got a role.”

“As a talking head!” she squealed.

“Wait,” Magnus interjected, having finally caught up on what his friends, and Lydia, were talking about. “Taako you got the lead?”

Taako put a hand to his chest, slowly tilting his head, pausing for dramatic effect, gently fluttering his eyes. “Did I… get the lead role?”

“Just tell me, you ass,” Magnus said.

Taako paused for a few more seconds, one eyebrow slowly ascending his forehead. “Naturally.”

Magnus scooped Taako up into a tight hug, lifting him from the ground and spinning him around once. The elf let out an almighty yelp, and even Lydia laughed at the ridiculous sound. Once he had put Taako down, he turned to Lydia. “I’m guessing you got the other lich role?”

“Of course, I’m the only senior girl who could actually sing.”

“Hey congrats,” Magnus said holding out his hand. Lydia regarded his calloused palm, her eyes scornful of every cut and blister, and looking at his chipped nail polish with distain. She held out her hand, only barely shaking his with the tips of her fingers.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “Okay…”

“Can you go and be terribly talentless somewhere else now?” Taako asked. Lydia gave her eyes a roll but sauntered off without another word. “Mag, we still on for this weekend?” Taako asked.

“Absolutely, so long as you both are,” he said, watching Merle and Taako nod in response.

“Boy detective,” Taako said, addressing their company. “How come you didn’t audition?”

“Me? On a stage,” Angus waved his hand. “No way, I don’t think anyone wants to hear me sing.”

“Okay but picture this; me being the lead means all the cool kids are gonna come to watch their inamorato, but if you were in it too then all the nerdy kids would come as well. Together we cover the full scope of people. Maybe throw in Magnus for those who like hunks…” Taako said. Then, he lurched forwards and clutched Angus’ collar. “Angus darling, we could’ve had it alllllll.”

Angus smiled, but shook his head. “Sorry Taako. Besides I’m in my final year, no way I have the time to spare between homework, socialising and getting a healthy amount of sleeping.”

“Who has time for sleeping when the stage calls?” Taako said.

“Not all of us are as naturally talented at magic as you and your sister, us common rabble actually need to study,” he said, lifting his books and backing away. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you ‘round sirs.” He gave a quick salute and then dashed away.

“I know we’re older than him, but he’s a year ahead of us and I just,” Magnus’ hands circled each other. “Calling us sirs is still so strange.”

“I gave up on understanding that kid a long time ago,” Taako said.

“I kinda like being called sir,” Merle said. His friends frowned at him, with abject disgust he didn’t register as kink shaming. Trying to make the moment pass as fast as possible, Taako lead the way. The way to the gymnasium was only a five-minute walk, but during lunch time the journey took twice as long, as Taako constantly stopped to talk to various people they passed who he apparently knew. Merle and Magnus would just look to each other and shrug, as yet another seeming stranger would happen upon Taako. Taako, of course, didn’t introduce anyone, leaving his friends in the dark.

“Geeze, you practically know everyone in this entire school!” Merle said, watching a dark elf he had never seen before run back to her group of friends.

“Psssh, hardly,” Taako said. “This place is huge.”

“Okay then, who is she?” Merle asked, pointing to a young woman at her locker.

“Oh that’s Jess the Beheader,” Taako said. His friends gave him a deadpan stare. “Come on, that’s not fair. Everyone knows Jess.”

“We don’t know Jess,” Magnus said.

“You guys don’t know Jess? She has a really cool YouTube channel where she decapitates Amiibo’s with nothing but the strength of her jaw and pure willpower. A strange brand of entertainment, but somehow hilarious every time.”

Magnus would later that day search up Jess’s channel, and admittedly, it was both immensely entertaining and impressive. Although he imagined expensive, as those delightful creations from Nintendo which blend both toy and game alike became barely a toy, nor a game, when crushed to fine dust by a very powerful woman’s teeth.

The squeaking of shoes could be heard from outside the gymnasium, and they opened the doors as a rhythmic thumping begun.

“Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate?” called Carey and Killian. They were clad in the official cheerleader uniform, and one by one a bunch of students in a row, threw their aims in the air, giving their own motivational shout of-

“Neverwinter!”

“Neverwinter!”

“Neverwinter!”

The three boys made their way to the bleachers and began a respectful watch of the cheerleader try-outs. After the initial warmup, greeting and set up, the candidates lined up, and performed their routines one by one.

Almost all eyes were on the robot student, No-elle.

“She can do some very impressive flips,” Taako said to his two friends. “Plus being a robot her timing is impeccable, but her voice projection needs work.”

“Do you think she’s allowed to study math for her final year?” Magnus asked. A flash of panic crossed his face, “Oh no I hope it’s not offensive to assume all robits are good at math?”

“Ro-bits,” Merle and Taako simultaneously, mindlessly, parroted Magnus’ pronunciation.

No-elle held her pose, and displayed a pixelated smile on her LED screen. Carey and Killian finished recording their notes which were undoubtedly very positive due to the bias of friendship and potential crushes.

When Lup stepped forwards, Taako said, “Now there’s a star cheerleader ready to be discovered. DON’T FUCK IT UP LUP!”

“Love you too Taako!” she shouted back as she took her place.

"Nice voice projection!" roared Killian, taking down a note on her sheet.

The trio were very impressed that Lup’s routine contained no swearing or backhanded insults and only a minimal amount of potentially flammable spells. Such a good girl. Following her stellar performance, Edward took centre stage and began his routine.

“Why aren’t you trying out Taako?” Magnus asked.

“You think I’d make a good cheerleader?” Taako asked.

“More opportunity to make a bunch of people listen to you?” Merle suggested.

“Hmm, I think Magnus just wants to see me in a miniskirt.”

“Yeah right,” Magnus said. “Seeing you in a miniskirt is a rare occasion I like to call Tuesdays.” Taako snickered into his hands. “Besides they wear, like, shorts underneath their uniforms.”

“Disappointed?” Taako asked.

“No, I’m just glad that the cheerleaders won’t get anxiety or be made uncomfortable by their clothes.”

“You’re too sweet for a tough guy,” Merle said. At that, Magnus spent a short while introspecting the idea of being ‘too sweet’. Honestly, it didn’t seem like a bad thing, or a thing possible at all. He supposed one could be too sweet for their own good, but he didn’t know anyone who didn’t have a little bit of asshole in them. Sweet yet cynical seemed the smart way to go.

“Anyway,” Taako digressed. “Cheerleading is not my thing. It involves far too much moving. And it’s about fitting into a team. I like to stand out, be the star. Also, who wants to sing about some footballers. I’d rather sing about me.”

“Try out for football then,” Magnus joked.

“I’d be _flattened_ ,” Taako said with a gasp. He sat frozen for a long while, before a shiver ran up his spine, presumably by a terrible imagining of being tackled and having all of his bones crushed by footballers.

 

 

The Trés Horny Boys all stood outside of Taako’s house on Sunday morning. Taako was wearing heels, a tight dress and thick stockings with a fluffy scarf to complete the ensemble. Conversely, Magnus wore a simple hoodie and jeans, while Merle wore his typical basketball shorts and Hawaiian print shirt. At the sight of his companions’ terrible fashion sense, Taako tried and failed, to retain a sneer of revulsion.

“So, what are we actually doing today?” came the inevitable question none of them had wanted to ask.

“Laser tag?” Merle suggested.

“In these heels?”

“I thought a true model could perform any task in heels,” Magnus said.

“Fine I’ll break, I’m just too lazy to run around.”

“Okay then what about bowling?” Magnus asked.

“Aww no,” Merle said. “I suck at bowling, you know I roll terribly.”

“Ah well you see the secret is to cheat,” Magnus said.

“How do you cheat at bowling? Bumpers?”

“Magic is how _I_ cheat,” Taako said.

“Alright so, you just gotta, focus on where you want the ball to be,” Magnus said, holding his hands up cupping an imaginary ball. He squinted his eyes into the distance. “And then… you run down the entire lane and drop it exactly where it needs to be. The key is to run faster than the bowling alley security staff.”

The three of them laughed but soon that laughter subsided and an uncomfortable silence fell over them. Outfits aside, none of them dare admit the truth. They just didn’t have much in common anymore. When they had been kids, anything could entertain them. Even a weekend spent at Merle’s church handing out flyers had been turned into a game and created a memorable bonding experience. Somewhere along the way from being children to where they were now, their interests had diverged.  
In the process of growing up, they had collectively agreed never to refer to themselves as the Trés Horny Boys, even Merle understanding how embarrassing that was. Times changed, people changed, and the nature of their relationships changed.

Despite all that however, their friendship held strong; a result of going on countless adventures together in their childhood, and while it took effort to sustain, it was more than worth the work. They’d never speak it, but internally they still referred to themselves as a trio. Eternally Trés Horny Boys in their hearts.

“How about we go into the city?” Merle said.

“Can we go to Fantasy Starbucks?” Magnus asked. “It’s nearly Fall so they have pumpkin spice in.”

“As long as you two don’t give me a mouthful of shit when I take photos with my drink. If I’m spending $10 on a drink, you bet your ass I’m capitalising on its popularity for Instagram.”

“Of course not,” Magnus lied.

“You won’t hear nothing from us,” Merle also lied.

 

 

Half of the day was of course spent trying to steal Taako’s phone. It only ended with them all being permanently banned from Fantasy Starbucks, which based on their track record, the manager should be glad there was a building to ban them from at all after their visit.

The afternoon was a retirement to the Zone of Truth, where to Magnus’ private delight, almost all of their friends had chosen to spend their last few hours of freedom before the next school day.

Over the past couple of months, the treehouse had actually become a popular hangout for their squad, especially since it had been furnished with lights and blankets and board games.

They climbed the ladder to see Lup, Barry and Davenport deep in a game of Monopoly. While the Trio’s bonds were strong, something should be said for any friendship which passes the gauntlet of Monopoly.

“Where’s Lucretia?” Magnus asked.

“Probably at her real house which isn’t in a tree,” Taako said. “Spending her afternoon like a normal teenager.”

“A house that’s not in a tree, in the middle of the woods, and thus is surrounded by even more trees,” Merle scoffed. “Sounds pretty lame to me.”

“Yeah, yeah Pan boy,” Lup said. “I’m sure it does.” She pulled out her phone, sending a text to Lucretia. A few minutes later she read aloud, _“Just at home studying. See you tomorrow, smiley face.”_

“Homework late on a Sunday night?” Davenport signed. “It’s not like her to leave things to the last minute.”

“Yes it is quite pec-u-li-ar,” Lup said, the words slowly rolling off her tongue. She stared at her phone for a long while. “Very. Peculiar. Indeed.” She turned her head to Taako, who met her eyes. Eyebrow wiggling pursued, albeit, for no particular reason. Really, they just had nothing better to say or do.

 

 

Sunlight shone through the window, warming Magnus’ cheek in a teasing manor. There was only an hour left of class until it was the weekend and in this very moment, the raucous boy wanted nothing more than to be outside running in the fresh air. Maybe doing laps of the field with Carey and Killian. Or going for a hike over some rocks. Or deep in the woods using a branch like a walking stick and pretending it was a wizard’s staff, ideally without Taako nearby to lecture him that that was not how real wizard’s staffs worked.

Basically, he wanted to be doing literally anything that involved being outdoors, in the sun and the wind rather than being trapped indoors learning about algebra.

The roof over his head made the room dark, which meant that artificial lights were needed to cast an unnatural florescent glow on the paper before him. When he tried to read the question his vision went blurry. He felt pain in his chest and his legs ached from being seated for so long. It was Fall, and a year ago he could’ve left his house at any time he had needed to be out in nature. And he had done so. But now he was a prisoner to rules. He concluded that school was terribly unhealthy. It was depriving kids of sunlight and exercise. It was locking them away from nature. It was torture.

Magnus’ leg shook very fast and with a lot of force, the only form of movement these rules permitted him to exhort.

Mindfulness, his inner therapist instructed him. He could bring himself back to the present moment and focus. If he did this work now, then there would be more time on the weekend to be outdoors. So, he had to focus. He had to concentrate. But of course, he still had at least three hours of homework to do on the weekend regardless.

_Present moment. Present moment. Don’t think about how much you’d rather be anywhere else right now. You used to miss school remember? No, that kid isn’t whispering about you. Just focus-_

“Magnus what did you get for question-”

“Nothing,” he snapped. Barry stared at him frozen for a moment and he immediately felt bad about it.

“Do you need help?”

Magnus looked at his empty page. “No… I’ll… figure it out tomorrow. I’ve just had too much school today.”

The moment the bell rang Magnus was out of the room. He speed-walked to his locker, throwing every single book into his bag. It made the weight far too heavy, but he was a strong boy, and he didn’t care much.

He had made it across the empty football field and had turned onto the secluded footpath leading towards his house, when the pain in his brow from scowling for the past half hour had become too much. He stopped walking, remaining where he stood and rubbed at his face, trying to wipe away the frustration of the day. He was outside now, he could begin calming down. His body still felt confined and wrong. The walk home would not be enough to shake him loose.

He reached up and took out his pony tail, immediately relieving the pressure from his head.

“Think that’ll make you a pretty boy?” a voice cooed, making him jump.

When he turned he saw one of the boys from the Hammerhead gang leaning against a fence. They were an outcast group, several kids who spoke cheap and dressed ratty. It was all show, according to Taako. Upper middle-class kids who wanted to seem edgy by being trashy.

“Why, do you like what you see?” Magnus said, throwing a wink in to emphasise the taunt. It was a stupid comment, but it didn’t take much to rile up someone who was already itching for a fight.

“You wish, Burnsides,” he said with a scowl. “Like anyone could think that looking at you.”

“Poetic,” Magnus said. “Did you prepare that insult while smoking in the boys’ toilets with all your cool friends?”

“We can’t all be teacher’s pets like Barry and Lucretia,” he said.

“Yeah, heck the rules, I’m a bad, bad boy,” Magnus said, mocking the other boy’s voice. “I love staying up past my bed time and swearing.”

The Hammerhead boy noted Magnus’ nonchalance, reassessing his target. “So, what’s the story big boy?” he said, tracing a line down his face as he stepped closer to Magnus, now officially in his ‘space’. “Word is you did it yourself? Tried to cut that ugly mug off. Maybe hoping beauty really _is_ on the inside.”

Magnus didn’t care about the attack on his appearance, at least not too much. Mostly because he couldn’t care less about what a Hammerhead thought of him. But at the mention of his scar, there was a strong pang in his chest, which he pushed down, hoping it hadn’t shown on the outside. And even if it did, the act of suppressing his emotions made a much more apparent and overwhelming anger rise in its place. He had to hide his confusion, and his sorrow, and his nagging need to know _why_ anyone would be so mean. Why anyone lived to find ways to hurt others.

And he hid it all behind a drop of his schoolbag and a swift swing of his fist.

Magnus wasn’t emotionally hurt by the words, he wasn’t scared by the insults. But the Hammerhead had offended his friends. He was a bully, who sought out to hurt people. And while Magnus was tough, these words could hurt someone else. The others in his life weren’t like him. They were wizards and scientists who chose to defend themselves with wit and words. But Hammerheads, and idiots of the like, didn’t speak with backhanded insults. They didn’t understand sass, or how to fight anger with logic. They spoke a different language. One of fists, and size, and intimidation.

But luckily, Magnus spoke their language.

The language of the rough boys.

Language lesson number one, punch first, and punch well. And Magnus had swung. Hard, fast, and directly between the eyes. Class was in session.

“Fuck!” the boy shouted taking a hold of his own nose. When his hands fell from his face, blood dripped down in their wake. For a moment he was paralysed, usually a fatal mistake in combat, but these boys were fighting for the fight itself, not to win, so Magnus allowed the lapse in time for the Hammerhead to collect himself.

“Come on,” Magnus taunted. “This fight is so lame, it isn’t even on my top ten list.”

“Yeah well… I’mma make my own list, and you’re ten – no wait you’re also not on my list-”

Magnus made an obnoxiously loud snoring noise as the Hammerhead failed to form a coherent insult.

“Hey. fuck you!” and then, the boy pounced. For a moment the world was without direction as Magnus was thrown, and then his head hit the pavement. As he began to comprehend his new perspective on the ground, he saw a fist grow in his field of vision until it hit him in the left eye. Before the boy could swing again, Magnus pushed his body up and the two grappled. It took a minute for Magnus to gain the upper hand, scrambling to his feet to kick the boy in the stomach. And then again. And then again.

As he listened to the boy beneath him wheeze out a breath, as he stood over him panting heavily. He felt a sting on the back of his head from where it had scraped the pavement, and he tried to remember why he had risen to this fight. It wasn’t because he was angry. Or because he had been upset or provoked. He was above that. It was to protect his friends. He was a protector. And sometimes the best defence was an offense, or something. Yeah, that sounded like a reasonable excuse to tell himself.

The boy on the floor groaned, and Magnus watched a drip of blood trail from his face to the pavement. It made him queasy, and it hinted at a panic which was slowly rising deep within him.

He had done this to retroactively protect his friends.

He picked up his school bag, with his lightly bloodied hands.

He looked back at the beaten-up boy.

He had done this to protect his friends, he told himself again.

And then, Magnus ran.

 

 

It turned out that the adrenaline high following a fight lasted much, much longer than that after a football match. Even after the final game of the season, Magnus’ body would return to normal after a late-night car ride home. But following the fight, by the time he had run to his house and made it to the bathroom, he was still experiencing what most accurately felt like multiple concurrent heart attacks.

Luckily for Magnus, Mr Waxmen didn’t come home until late, so he could tend to the damage with no questions asked. In the mirror, he winced at his reflection. The old scar was a pale line running down his face, noticeable but long healed. But now scrapes from the rough concrete were strewn across his body and his left ear was covered in drying blood from where he had hit the pavement.

Worst of all was the bruise on his eye which promised to bring with it more gossiping the moment he showed his face at school. There would be no hiding that one behind lies of innocence. His face was red flush from running and panicking about the whole situation which had unfolded. And about the subsequent repercussions he might face, which he could barely even begin to comprehend.

Oh god, oh fuck, oh shit.

He clutched his hair, pulling slightly, just to apply pressure somewhere on his body other than the mild ache his current bleeding injuries brought. A drop of blood from his scraped knee made its way down his ankle, getting threateningly close to the bathroom mat.

Panic attacks aside, he had to do something. He had to start somewhere in cleaning this mess up.

He began with a shower, hissing as water ran into open cuts, and trying not to faint as he pulled out small pavement rocks from the deep gash in his knee. Rubbing the dirt away was the hardest part, as scrapped skin came off with his attempts to clean.

Afterwards, he wrapped himself in his towel, and stood still, appreciating the softness of the fabric. He was also reluctant to rub at the cuts any further.

His next step was to search the laundry for some form of antiseptic. While it stung to apply, the smell was familiar and for a moment he was taken back to his football days. His coach, or his dad, had done this for him, treating his injuries properly. Back when his injuries had been a result of a game, and acquiring them had been in the process of making his family and friends proud.

“I did this to protect my friends,” he told himself, as he held a cotton bud to his elbow. He winced through the pain, before reaching for a Hello Kitty Band-Aid. He regarded the box, the cute pink designs making him think of a more innocent time. These Band-Aids must have been a relic of Julia’s youth; Mr Waxmen’s daughter who was currently far, far away at boarding school

 

 

Many hours after the fight was over Magnus sat on the couch, making his best imitation of a vegetable as he stared at the TV. From cooking show, to crime show to old Star Trek re-runs, he was trying and failing to distract his mind from thinking about two panic inducing thoughts. Firstly, who the Hammerhead was going to tell, how much, and what trouble he would get in from it. And secondly how his friends and Mr Waxmen were going to reprimand him for this incident.

The TV changed to another ad break, and Magnus spent a minute flicking through ads and screaming talk show hosts, trying not to picture how damn angry Lup was going to be, before the fear in his mind made his heart race so fast his chest began to ache. The white noise of the TV mingled with the screams of his subconscious which mingled with the dull pain of dressed cuts and he felt like he was going to combust.

Magnus turned the TV off and dragged his body to his room, picking up a handful of fun-sized chocolate bars from the kitchen on his way.

The door thumped behind him and he collapsed his body onto his bed, landing stomach first and making the springs creak loudly under his weight. He opened the first chocolate wrapper with his teeth and ate it without tasting a thing. He idly watched Fischer swim around his tank. It was a calming thing to watch, and it lulled him for the time being. Staring at the tank was an ambient, timeless thing. It was set up exactly as it had been set up when he first got Fischer a year and a bit ago. After the accident. Fischer was slow, graceful, beautiful. He was peaceful and Magnus’ heart slowed in time with the fluid movements of the fish.

Therapy fish was a rare choice, but it was the right one. After losing his dad, Magnus had stayed in his bed day in and day out. After only a few visits, Magnus’ therapist had weaved out one of Magnus’ core motivations; the need to take care of something. Magnus had firmly said he didn’t want something high maintenance, and he didn’t want something he would get too attached to. Dogs and cats lived a long time, ideally long enough for him to recover, but fathers were meant to live longer than his did too. It was tempting to project his recovery onto a dog, but the very thought of losing the dog too soon had made Magnus terrified.

Fish died, a lot. He remembered when Merle had had fish when he was in elementary school. A fish would pass away every year or so. And each time Merle and his friends would hold a mock sermon for them, mostly as an imaginative form of entertainment.

Fischer would die someday. In general, Magnus was at a place where he would be able to move on from that, but in this very moment his sanity depended on watching that fish nibble at the bubbles at the surface of his tank, mistaking them for food, while Magnus shoved another chocolate bar into his mouth.

He heard the front door to the house open, Mr Waxmen finally having arrived home.

The first physical fight Magnus had been in, he had been eight. Boys will be boys and all that jazz. Magnus and another boy had had too much energy when a playground clash had broken out. It had been a very long time ago, and his memory of the incident was beyond a blurry haze. He imagined he had felt angry at the time, a stupid kid unsure of how to handle angry emotions in a mature way. He imagined that his teachers would’ve scolded him. He did remember the other boy crying. He remembered winning. And the fight must have been for a good cause, because he remembered that winning had brought him pride.

Fish fight each other. Humans do too. Humans are naturally violent creatures. Magnus had never hit anything helpless, but sometimes other people do, and it’s those people to whom he directed his violence.

He imagined that Fischer had never done any harm. He only ate synthetic nutritional flakes and swam around in slow circles. Magnus doubted he would be the kind of fish to fight others. Maybe he was the kind of fish to be eaten.

“I’m not a bad person,” he said to the tank. He’s not sure why, but a few tears roll down his cheek.

A few minutes later, his door was knocked on and then opened. Mr Stephan Waxmen stood at his doorframe, silently taking in the sight of Band-Aids littering Magnus’ legs, accompanied by bruises on his arms. With scrapes still on his elbows and knuckles, the story told itself. The black eye was the crown jewel to his look.

Having a legal guardian was a weird thing. Socially the norms were hardly pre-established. Magnus had known Mr Waxmen his whole life as a friend of the family. Now they lived under the same roof, in the same house, which Magnus still didn’t fully regard as a home. How did debating work with someone taking the role of your parent, but still formally considered a non-related elder? Dinnertimes were either a formal occasion or filled with semi-formal banter, either way Magnus felt as though he always had to watch his tongue. And now Magnus was in trouble. And Mr Waxmen while legally obligated to ‘raise him’ was also unsure of how to proceed. Undoubtedly, he had never experienced this in his time raising Julia.

Magnus had gotten into his second fight at the age of twelve, with a girl who had claimed she was the strongest person in that primary school. The fight had been fair, and they had ended it with a shake of the hand. She had been bruised and grazed, and he had too. But hitting a girl was forbidden. Her parents hadn’t believed that their princess was a rough kid too. Magnus had gotten a detention, thoroughly confused for being punished over a mutually organised fight.

This fight had been the same principle, mutually agreed upon violence. But now his conscience was far more developed than it had been back then, and rather than be angry at being punished, Magnus now felt guilt and shame.

Stephan, very slowly, let his eyebrows raise. He gave a warm smile. “Interesting day at school?”

“I wish,” Magnus said.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just some scrapes.”

“You in trouble?” he asked. “I wasn’t called by the school so I’m guessing not.”

“At least for now, but I don’t think the other guy is going to tell,” Magnus explained.

“Did you hurt him?” At that question Magnus felt the panic in him rise. The sudden shock to his system was disorienting. Because yes, he did hurt someone.

“He’ll be fine,” Magnus said.

“Are you sure?”

“I didn’t… He wasn’t like unconscious!” Magnus’ voice broke as he shouted. “I didn’t bash him. I just- it was just some roughhousing!”

Stephan heaved a sigh as he pinched his brow. “Magnus… I thought you were better than this.”

Magnus opened his mouth. And then it shut again. It opened again as his brain short circuited. “I… am better than this,” he said.

“A fight? Really? I… do you need to go back to therapy? I’m happy to book you in.”

“No, I’m fine,” Magnus said.

“Are you sure? This isn’t an indication of being in control of your emotions,” he said.

“I am,” Magnus’ voice broke in his distress. He drew his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and weaker he repeated, “I am.”

A few tears streaked down Magnus’ face which he tried to wipe away quickly, but he was not fast enough for Mr Waxmen to miss it. The bed dipped as he sat beside Magnus. Still, the social divide of legal guardian, mentor, housemate, old family friend, authority figure but ultimately not a family member, hung heavy between them.

“I’m trying,” Magnus said.

“I know.”

“It’s hard.”

“I’m sure it is. But Magnus, fighting is… It’s a dangerous path. You could get hurt. You still can, if whoever the other guy is feels like a rematch. Or you could hurt someone else, and that will end up hurting you too, because I know you’re a compassionate person and living with that would be hard for you.” Magnus said nothing about how he had technically learnt this lesson before. A story long in his history’s past which had resulted in one of his closest friends losing an arm. “Not to mention you could get in trouble, the chances of which increase each time you do something like this. And I don’t just mean as in school trouble. You’ve never really had to face the law, and I hope you never do, but just because you’re a minor, you’re not above it.”

Magnus tried to say something. To affirm he understood what he was being told, but the moment he tried to speak anything, a sob escaped instead, and he held onto himself tighter. Through his tears he watched his fish. Following his movements like a lifeline. And he felt like all the seams holding him together were bursting. The only people he cried in front of were his dad, who was now gone, his therapist, and his fish. Not Mr Waxmen. Not his friends when they were outside of the Zone of Truth. Because crying was embarrassing. And he was a seventeen-year-old teenager, trying to be a man. This wasn’t what men do.

The last fight before todays had been a month after Magnus had lost his dad. He had been the one searching for it. An excuse, any excuse, to fight. He had distanced himself from his friends out of fear of ruining their perception of him during his grieving period. It had been the first fight where he had drawn blood. But it had also been the first one he had not gotten in trouble for.

“You’re better than this Magnus,” Mr Waxmen said. It wasn’t a judgement, it was a fact. And Mr Waxmen’s arm wrapped around Magnus’ shoulder and then pulled him into a tight hug. And as Magnus cried into his shirt, ugly and loud, he ceased being Mr Waxmen, and for the first time simply became Stephan.

_I am better than this,_ Magnus screamed in his mind, as loud as he could without making a sound. _I am better than this._

Stephan tightened his hold, and with it came a tighter seam in their shared bond. A strong thread to help hold Magnus together.

 

 

It took until lunchbreak the next day for the crew to realise Magnus’ absence. When Lucretia sent a text to him inquiring on his absence, she received no response. Taako spent the last ten minutes of his English class spamming Magnus’ phone with messages. Simultaneously Magnus was lying in a blanket pile in the treehouse, watching his blaring phone slowly make its way across the wooden floor, vibrating with each incoming message.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Lucretia asked, as they all gathered at their lockers at the end of the day.

“Have you tried calling his parents?” Barry asked. There was a silence amongst them, and Barry scratched his neck nervously. “Unless… you don’t have their number?”

Lup took a slow sigh, wrapping her arm around her boyfriend. “Magnus lost his father in a car crash about two years ago.”

“Is that the story behind the scar?” Barry asked. Lup nodded.

“And why he wasn’t here last year,” she said.

Although he didn’t know Magnus very well, Barry felt a slowly rising anger towards all the times he had witnessed people blatantly ask about the scar. Even he barely felt like he had the right to know this intimate detail.

“We can’t call Mr Waxmen for answers either,” Lup said. “He wouldn’t be home yet.”

 “You know, I have a theory,” Angus said, coming over to their gathering. “I overheard-”

“Eavesdropped,” corrected Taako.

“I was listening with a detective’s keen ear, and earlier with my keen eye, I spotted Little Jerry, you know one of the Hammerheads, and he’s got an awful lot of scars and bruises.”

“No, I refuse to believe it,” Lucretia said sternly. Everyone looked to her. She shook her hear profusely. “He’s not fighting again. He’s grown out of that.” Despite her wishes, uncertainty weaved its way into her voice. “He’s more mature than to get into fights anymore. Right?”

“The Hammerheads certainly aren’t too mature for picking fights,” Davenport signed. “It’s entirely believable they antagonised him.”

“But he wouldn’t fall for it, he…”

“Are you saying Magnus ‘Rushes in’ Burnsides isn’t a hot-headed idiot?” Taako butted in. “Because maybe we’re talking about different people, and that’s where all this confusion is coming from.”

“Listen, I love Magnus, but Taako has a point,” Lup said. “He’s not always a forward thinker.”

“So Mr Burnsides got himself into a fight, and now he probably feels right terrible about it,” Angus led on.

 “Well,” Merle said. “I can guess one place where Magnus Hyphen Terry ‘The Hammer’ Burnsides would go to wallow in his own sadness.”

 

 

Angus let out an impressed gasp at the sight of the finely crafted treehouse. “I can see why you nicknamed him The Hammer now.”

“If anyone makes any innuendo about nailing, I’m burning this forest to the ground,” Taako said.

“Only because you wish you were the n-” Merle was interrupted by a swift elbow to his stomach by the elf.

Lup shoved the boys aside, launching herself up the ladder and stomping her way inside the wooden house “Tell me it isn’t true!” she shouted on entry. Inside she saw mounds of blankets concealing a sulking Magnus. “Tell me you’re not fighting again.”

One of Magnus’ hands rose up out of the folds of fabric to flip her off.

“Magnus!” she said, slapping the hand. The rest of the group piled in one by one.

“Did you get hurt?” Lucretia asked. Finally, Magnus sat up. He was a little surprised by the presence of Angus.

“Not as much as the other guy,” he said.

Lucretia wasn’t impressed. “You have a black eye.”

“Yeah and check this out,” Magnus said, hiking up his sweat pants to show off his band aid riddled legs. “Hello Kitty.”

“Um excuse me,” Taako said. “The only way you could get cuts on your legs would be if you were wearing _shorts to school_. We need to have a serious conversation about your outfit choices.”

Lucretia hit Taako in the arm. “ _That_ , is not what’s important.”

“You’re telling him off about fighting by attacking your own brother!” Taako said.

Magnus hurled a pillow at Taako’s head, but the elf ducked and his sister caught it effortlessly. She hurled it back at Magnus and it made a ‘whoomfph’ sound as it hit his face. “Magnus what the _fuck_. Are you trying to get expelled?!” she said.

“I’d rather that than this impromptu intervention,” he said. Sadly, the tree house was too high up to consider launching himself out of the window. Although even with a broken leg he could probably outrun everyone else present. “It’s done okay. I can’t change the past. And he’s not going to tell anyone without putting himself at risk of getting in trouble, or worse, ruining his reputation. So it’s fine. It’s over. Can we just… stop talking about it.”

Eight teenagers stood in a very small space, uncertain of how to proceed. Amongst them was anger, frustration and disappointment all drawn from love. It was an array of emotions which none of them really knew how to handle. Lup and Lucretia clearly wanted to argue. To hammer in their lesson. But they also knew Magnus was not an idiot. And Mr Waxmen was nice but a hard-ass. There was a degree they needed to be critics of his behaviour, and another degree to which they were aware that Magnus needed them to be just his friends.

So, they did what they were familiar with, they sat down, and went about their afternoon as usual, pretending they were all feeling nothing while struggling with feeling everything at once.

Most of them went into homework or reading. Angus and Merle chose to leave the treehouse to take a walk in the woods. Barry tried to do his work. Math work was easy, he could do it in noisy class rooms, sleep deprived, and as he had recently learnt, he could do it with a distractingly attractive girl eating Cheetos beside him in his bedroom. Barry had never tried to do work with a person with a black eye sitting across the room from him however. A room which was built by said person, for a friend group to which Barry still was mostly an outsider.

Historically his friends had all been other quiet kids. Other people who’s after school activities consisted of doing their homework, or intellectual based pastimes like art or music. He had never considered someone like Magnus to be his friend before. The moment someone he knew had slipped into dangerous territory, skipping classes, smoking, making offensive jokes or just doing anything remotely unsavoury, Barry had broken ties. He surrounded himself with the kinds of people he wanted to be like, high achievers, mature, proper.

Only an hour ago he had learned that Magnus had gone through some official ‘Tough Shit’, but wasn’t that the story behind all bad kids? Magnus had been in a fight, many before in fact. But before last year, he had been ahead of his class, so he was abnormally smart. So where did Magnus stand, as a dangerous young man who was also an above average academic student, who was loyal to his friends, who had dropped school for a year. Nowhere quantifiable, Barry decided. In fact, the only thing he conclude was that this method of judging people, using their grades and their interests and their levels of violence… It wouldn’t suffice.

Barry had incomplete data, and he knew he would start jumping to conclusions which would result in incorrect assumptions.

What he knew was that when he looked at Magnus, he felt afraid, whereas everyone else in the room was indifferent to his presence. A black eye, scars and bruises belonged to someone they trusted. Someone they supported.

Barry also now knew a great deal more about Magnus than an ‘outsider’ would, which in turn, made him no longer one.

Barry grabbed his phone and opened a messenger app. The screen was blank as he had no prior conversation with Magnus. It was a blatant warning that he was still unfamiliar. But Barry had recently learnt the importance of bravery. The gorgeous girl sitting beside him who he could call his girlfriend was evidence to that.

_Barry here,_

_We were very worried when you didn’t answer your phone today, which is why everyone’s a bit high-strung. Glad you’re okay._

Barry’s heart pounded after he sent the message, his social anxiety forcing him to read it over and over again.

But a few minutes later his phone dinged with one message from Magnus which would completely alter all hypothesises he had regarding the rough boy.

_:)_

Barry looked at the smiley emoji. He dared a quick glance to Magnus, who was still wrapped up in blankets on the floor, face transfixed on his screen and headphones in to block out the world. Barry looked back at his screen, and he realised that he was no longer afraid of friends who lived life a little rougher than he did.

 

 

It was late afternoon when Angus McDonald was pulled into an empty classroom and the door shut behind him. His kidnapper, Lup, held him by the shoulders.

“Boy detective, I have a case for you,” she said.

“I’d be happy to assist Ms Lup, you needn’t manhandle me,” he said, a light blush on his cheeks.

“Its about Lucretia,” Lup said. “And what mysterious thing she’s getting up to on Sunday nights.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar for next semester:  
> \- A devilishly handsome exchange student arrives at Neverwinter High  
> \- Taako ascends the ladder of fame  
> \- Lucretia and Merle have a spa day  
> \- Carey goes on a fake date and talks about girls  
> \- Magnus finds a more acceptable way to pick fights
> 
> >It seems like Magnus could use this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpAy2IdYugg&t=  
> >The story’s development is set out but feel free to leave suggestions or ideas for things you’d like to see.  
> >Find me on tumblr: apocahipster


	2. Semester 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar for this semester:  
> \- A devilishly handsome exchange student arrives at Neverwinter High  
> \- Taako ascends the ladder of fame  
> \- Lucretia and Merle have a spa day  
> \- Carey goes on a fake date and talks about girls  
> \- Magnus finds a more acceptable way to pick fights

“Hachi-Machi!” Taako said, rubbing his hands together. There was a hunger in his eyes and a comedic wiggle to his eyebrows, and this much animation meant that he must have been _seriously_ driven.

“What is it Taako, what do your elf eyes see?” Merle asked.

“More like, what do your gay eyes see?” Lup said.

“Handsome devil, at twelve o’clock,” Taako said. Everyone followed the direction of his point, which was determinately a ‘three o’clock at best’. Down the hall, was an unfamiliar, but strikingly handsome face. It was objectively handsome, as though if there was a singular God writing down his character traits, ‘handsome’ would be a defining descriptor listed multiple times. He had dark hair, and a wide smile as he addressed several other students talking to him.

In the blink of an eye, Taako was strutting down the hall, clearing a path to get his fair share of attention from ‘The New Kid’.

“That long dark cloak looks amazing,” Taako said taking a chance to brush his fingers over the kid’s shoulders, “Do you _know_ how hard that is to pull off? You do it flawlessly.”

“Oh, I’m glad,” he said, and his thick accent immediately made it clear why so many other kids found him intriguing. “Pulling off a long dark cloak look is ideal; the alternative is looking like a serial killer. Which, I’m not. In fact, I haven’t even killed one person, let alone enough to qualify for a serial title.”

Taako laughed politely, with far too much volume for it to seem genuine. Beside Merle, Barry snorted under his breath. He had no idea whether it was the terrible morbid joke, or the desperate attempt at flirting on Taako’s part which had entertained him.

“As much as I’d love to hear Taako talk about wanting to pull off your cloak; I’m guessing by your accent you’re the exchange kid,” Lucretia said.

“No, I just talk funny and have a strange name, but I live here in Neverwinter and always have. Frankly, I’m very upset you don’t recognise me, woman who I know the name of and have known deeply all my life,” he said. Taako, once again, laughed exuberantly. Relief crossed Lucretia’s face as she realised it had been a sarcastic remark. “My name’s Kravitz.”

“It’s nice to meet you Kravitz, we’re all late for class,” Magnus said.

“Hello late for class,” Kravitz said. Only Merle found that one funny. “Well, I suppose I am late as well,” he said. “There goes my chance to make a good impression on my first day.”

 “Oh, don’t worry darling, it’s been more than positive on me,” Taako said. “And I’m the only person worth impressing around here.” Magnus did the world a favour, forcibly grabbing Taako’s arm to pull him along to their next class. “I’ll see you around New Kid!”

Lucretia’s tapping shoes followed them quickly afterwards as the group of friends made their way across the hall in the direction of their lockers.

“I just, really struggle with sarcasm when people don’t make it obvious. You need to have the tone of voice to clarify,” she said.

“Yeah I get you,” Magnus said. “Tone of voice, or it needs to like, be so unbelievably outrageous it can’t be true.”

“You two are so boring,” Taako said. “He was obviously having a goof. What a fun guy. So funny. Such a sweet accent. Really fashionable.”

Magnus elbowed Taako. “ _Handsome_.”

“Objectively,” he said.

“Arguably,” Lucretia said.

“No. You gotta think he’s cute. It’s like, law,” Taako said. “Come on Mag.”

“He’s not, unattractive. He just looks like a guy,” Magnus said with a shrug. “He looks fine I guess.”

“Lu-creTIA?” Taako said. “Come on, come onnnn Lucretia, come on.”

She let out a sharp sigh. “He’s fairly attractive,” she said nonchalantly.

“See?! It’s a general fact. That boy’s cute.”

“I have something important to talk about,” Lup said, stepping forwards and addressing the whole group.

“Are you saying this isn’t?” Taako gasped at her.

“Haunted Boy Watch can wait. What cannot wait is me. Waiting around. Doing nothing. The one-week break was so _boring_ , it wasn’t even worth mentioning what we did because we did nothing. Soooo… I propoooose… we do… _something_ , next break.”

“Do you want to be a little more specific, LuLu?” Barry asked.

“I dunno,” Lup shrugged. “That’s my part of the plan, you guys brain-think the rest.”

“We had better decide quickly because, like Magnus said, we’re very late for class,” Lucretia said.

“Japan,” Taako said.

“I don’t have any money,” Magnus said.

“Also next break is Candlenights and I need to be at home for that,” Merle said.

“The break after that then,” Davenport signed. “Something really cheap like, camping of something.”

“Oh I _love_ camping,” Taako said, clearly loathing the concept in its entirety.

“Yeah, I like that idea,” Merle said. “Setting up tents, building camp fires, living rugged in the wilderness.”

“No, no, no! We, as several sentient species, have evolved to get as far away from living in the woods as possible,” Taako said. “We built houses and toilets and lightbulbs so we never have to like, even think about grass existing. Lucretia you’re an indoors type, back me up here.”

“Actually, I think camping would be fine. Being amongst nature and having new experiences will help my writing,” she said.

“Oh and think of all the hiking we could do,” Magnus said.

“I can picture it now, the rushing streams, waking up to bird song,” Merle said. “Nature’s twitter.” For a moment, the cleric’s spell had been cast. All of them, even the pessimistic Taako, drifted in their imaginings. Crisp morning air, the simplicity of nature and a whole day to spend to their will with their friends.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the ten-minute grace period for students to arrive in class.

Sure, some of them were natural scholars, introverts, ‘indoors people’ and lazy elves who preferred to pay for services he could easily do himself; but ultimately all seven of them were explorers. Because they were still young, and still had stories and adventures and lessons to learn first-hand.

But right now, these seven adventurers hastily parted ways, grabbing heavy books to learn things through writing and spoken word, to be confined in rooms by invisible rules for the next several hours of their lives.

 

 

The first weekend after the first week back was filled with homework for most of the crew who were terrible at time management. Predictably this was everyone besides Lup and Lucretia. Which was why Lucretia’s declination to Lup’s invite to hang out was extremely suspicious.

“Homework, there’s no way she has homework. She does it all afterschool the day it’s assigned. She stays _on top_ of everything,” Lup said.

“So I am aware,” Angus said, following Lup through the suburban streets. The houses were classy in this part of town. People took great pride in their property with neatly trimmed lawns and carved hedges. Some people had water fountains, and others had bigger fountains to appease their smaller ego. Lucretia’s house fit in with the neighbourhood. Rather than a statue or fountain, the jewel of the property was an intricate garden with several dome green houses, because by god they just love domes around here.

It was 5pm, and while still Autumn, it was the butt end of the season, making the air cold and the sky unreasonably dark. They stood amongst the bushes of Lucretia’s front yard, hiding from sight of the windows. “Lucretia’s bedroom is up there,” Lup said pointing.

“Oh, okay?” Angus said, not entirely sure why they were whispering like fugitives. “Does she know we are coming or should we knock on the door?”

Lup rubbed her temples for a moment. “You really don’t understand the concept of _espionage_.”

“Espionage!” Angus shouted in his loud distinguishable boy voice.

“Yes, that’s the whole point. She won’t tell us what she’s up to, so we gotta find out on our own.”

“But what if it’s personal. Lup I won’t help you breach your friend’s privacy.”

“Fine, but if I find out what it is that she’s hiding, I’m not gonna tell you,” Lup said. Angus was torn. His need to uncover the truth conflicting with his basic human decency.

“Just a quick look won’t hurt. But the moment we find we’ve gone too far we stop.”

“Atta-boy!” she said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Lup grabbed him by the arm and they hurriedly made it to the side of the building. They stood under Lucretia’s window, and Angus said, “Her bedroom’s on the second story? How are we meant to peep through the window?”

“Don’t worry I got you covered, turn around and face the wall.” Hesitantly, Angus did as she asked, and with his back turned Lup pulled a wand from her jacket.

“Levitate!” she cast the spell and slowly Angus began to float upwards.

“Woah!” he let out a gasp before quickly covering his mouth.

When his eyes just reached the window, his ascent stopped and Lup held him suspended in the air. All that Angus saw was an extremely orderly bedroom. One wall of the room was covered in stacks and stacks of books piled up to the ceiling. He saw Lucretia’s back, as she sat at a desk on her computer. But most interestingly a tripod with a camera pointing at the wall of books.

When returned to the ground he reported these findings to Lup as best he could, as well as a great detail of how bad he felt for having spied on a friend. The whole walk home he contemplated his own moral complexity, while Lup contemplated her friend’s afternoon activity.

 

 

Taako’s favourite classes had always been cooking and magic, however recently he had developed a keen fondness for religious studies, which may or may not correlate to the list of classes he shared with official New Kid, Kravitz. Okay, it was almost entirely because the handsome new lad was in the same class as him.

“Word is you’re extremely talented with magic, Taako,” Kravitz said. “The gossip is you’re going to 100% your exam next year.”

Taako waved him off. “Oh, well, I’d like to say they’re exaggerating. I’d _like_ to.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Merle said.

“Besides, I’m sure you’ve got a plethora of hidden talents yourself,” Taako said, completely ignoring Merle and Magnus beside him.

“Oh I can’t do magic,” Kravitz said.

“Hey, I can’t do magic either!” Magnus said, a happy lilt in his voice at this discovery, resembling a puppy seeing another of its kind. Taako leant further forwards in his desk, trying to block his compatriots out of the conversation.

“I apologise for presuming as such,” Taako said. “I thought only because you’re in my magic class…”

“I can’t cast spells, but I like to study them,” Kravitz said. “I think there’s value in understanding the whack shit people around you can do. Like, I just want to be aware of whether or not my next-door neighbour can turn my car into a pile of snakes at will or anything. It’s just seems like the sort of thing everyone should know. You know?”

“Oh absolutely,” Taako said.

“I mean, I can still do charms and rituals if I have the right ingredients. I’m pretty decent at it too. Too decent if you ask my mum, who to this day holds me responsible for turning the entire bathroom lilac purple.”

“Lilac purple, what a delectable colour,” Taako said. “Magic or no, your accent is certainly _charming_.” Beside him Merle made a gagging noise, which was followed by a swift and silent elbowing from Taako. The dwarf felt this unfair, after all it was Taako who was chatting away during their religious studies class. His best class. The only class he had an end of year advantage on, and his horny elf friend was ruining his ability to study. “Tell me more about your, _mum,”_ Taako said, teasing the accent.

Kravitz chuckled softly, fiddling with a lock of hair as an excuse to fidget. “She’s great. Really, really likes birds. We got three pet ravens who live inside and sit and watch movies with us. But there’s also an aviary outside for rescue birds so technically we have forty.”

“Forty!” Taako’s hand hit his desk, receiving a stern look from their teacher. “Is now a bad time to tell you I have a fear of birds.”

“You don’t like birds?”

“ _Like_ is a complicated subject. I respect them immensely, which is why I fear them.”

“Wait you’re actually afraid of birds?” Magnus said. “I thought you were joking about that.”

“Have _you_ mastered the land, the sea _and_ the sky?” Taako said.

“Have you mastered how to be subtle when you’re fl-mmphhphm,” Magnus tried to speak through the hand on his mouth, but Taako had grown up with an annoying twin sister. Even when Magnus licked his hand, Taako did not relent.

“Fear and respect them,” he said. He turned back to Kravitz. “Forty birds, tell me more. Do they all have names?”

“Of course, they do!”

 

 

“Magnus, d’ya wanna help be win thirty-five dollars?” Carey said, sitting down at the table across from Magnus, hands folded in front of her. It felt a bit like a job interview, except that Magnus was the one with the power in this proposition.

“What’s in it for me?” he asked, playing along. He was already certain he was going to say yes regardless.

“A free movie and I have a laser tag card we can exploit.”

Magnus leaned forwards onto his elbow. Tilting his head, he deepened his voice. “What’s the catch?”

“You might need to wear a shirt,” she said. Magnus’ eyes narrowed. “It technically needs to be a date. Graham bet me thirty-five dollars that I couldn’t get a date with a boy. And you’re technically a boy and won’t get any misconceptions about the fact I am completely a lesbian and only doing this for the money.”

“So, it’s like our regular hang outs, except you get paid at the end.”

“Yes.”

“Well Carey, I’ve done a lot of things for our friendship over the years…” Carey looked hopeful, and she clutched her hands together leaning closer to him. “But go on a date now that… that’s a new one…” Her wide eyes blinked at him, expectant. “Of course, I’ll do it you goober.”

“Oh yeah! Carey’s first date!” she shouted punching the air. “Snagged myself a boy for an evening. Eat shit Graham.”

 

 

“Merle please for the love of your god, pull up your pants,” Lucretia said, her face buried deeply in her palm. “I can see three quarters, to four fifths of your entire ass and it’s more than I ever wanted to experience.”

“He’s only got ten more seconds to go,” Lup said.

Merle’s face was red as blood continued to rush to it. When Magnus’ count down hit zero, Merle’s entire body collapsed.

“There I did your stupid dare,” he huffed.

“I have to say, I didn’t believe you could stand on your head for a whole minute,” Taako said. “Colour me impressed.”

“Thanks.”

“Now pick the next sacrifice,” Lup prompted.

“Okay, alright, Barry. Truth or Dare?” Merle asked.

Barry perked up at the sound of his name. “Uh, truth.”

“That name you have on your pencil case. Sil… silly… sill-”

“Sildar?”

“Yeah that. What is that?”

“It’s just my deadname,” he said with a shrug. “I doesn’t bug me to look at or anything, I just haven’t bought a new pencil case since I was a kid.”

“Sweet, we unlocked Barry’s backstory,” Taako said. “Well, go on. It’s your turn Barold.”

“Oh… uhh… Magn-”

“Dare.”

Lup bounced up and down where she was sitting. “Barry, Barry, Barry I have a great idea.” She leant over and whispered directly into Barry’s ear.

“Uh, okay sure.”

The two rose together. “Be back in a minute babes.” She winked at Magnus and the couple left the room. A moment later Taako realised what was going on and lunched himself in their wake.

Lucretia, Magnus, Merle and Davenport all sat in Taako’s bedroom looking about the mess of _things_. Davenport let out a cackle, and in the trusted privacy of old time friends, he spoke, “Come look at this.”

They all shuffled around Davenport, who held an old, old photo of the twins. It was from Halloween when they were six years old. They had both wanted to coordinate a costume, but being attention seeking individuals at heart, they had both dressed as the head of a horse, neither wanting to be the butt end.

The group were still laughing when the twins and Barry returned, a red cup held ceremoniously between them.

“Magnus,” Barry declared. “I dare you, to drink this!”

Magnus propped his hands on his hips, lifting his chin, rising to the challenge. “And drink it I shall!” He took the cup and made the mistake of peering inside. Its aroma was unpleasant enough without the contents looking like tar. It was so dark inside all light was consumed by the substance and he wasn’t certain whether or not the mixture was bubbling. “Errr…” he began to question all of his life choices.

“Come on Maggy, just slam it,” Taako said.

“I don’t knowwwww,” he said. “It smells like a dog’s butt.”

“Slam it!” Lup shouted.

“Slam it! Slam it! Slam it!” his friends began to chant.

Magnus slammed it.

He had to put significant effort into swallowing it. As he did, he thought his body was going into shock, as extreme spice with a hint of chocolate and… crunchy bits? crossed his senses. Somewhere, he heard Taako say “Oh gross we had to talk _Magnus_ into doing something.”

“If I’m dead by dawn, tell Mr Waxman I love him,” Magnus said. “Okay Lup, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she said.

“I dare you… to do your best Merle impersonation.”

“Why is it always me?” Merle asked, crossing his arms.

Lup stood and pulled her long hair under her nose, holding it up like a moustache. “ _Now kids, don’t go cursing sacrilege of the good word of Pan. I love chess and being shitty at maths. Now as me, classic Merle Hightower, I’m going to go fuck a tree.”_

It took a few minutes for the laugher to cease, and for Merle’s grumbled to be ignored long enough to be given up on, before Lup moved on to Taako.

“Truth.”

“Soooooooooo,” she said drawing out the syllable for a worrisome length of time.

Across the room, Taako looked up from his phone. “Soooooo?” he said.

“Kraaaaavitz…” she said.

“That is certainly a name of a guy we know,” Taako said. While trained for the stage, he could hardly keep a straight face in front of his sister. He couldn’t keep a straight _anything_ when the subject matter was a boy he may or may not have a gigantic crush on. A smile tugged at his blue painted lips.

“He’s very sweet,” Lup said. “Has a sexy accent.”

“He does.”

“And you, my dear brother, are an asshole.”

“That I am,” Taako said.

“But you’re less of an asshole to him.”

“Yeah because he’s not the worlds worst sister,” Taako said. “Are we going to get to the question part yet?”

Lup giggled. “In a moment. I think we all here can agree, anyone who makes you more tolerable is a good influence. Honest thoughts on him, is he, dreamy?”

“He’s so fucking dreamy,” Taako said. “He’s great. He’s perfect!” Taako threw his arms in the air. “Why does he have to be so damn perfect?!”

“Perfection really is a curse for you,” Lup said. “After all you’re stuck living with me every day.”

Taako shot her a sarcastic grin, which she shot back perfectly.

 

 

“You know who would’ve loved that movie? Killian,” Carey said. Her arm was hooked in Magnus’, a courteous link like a true fancy couple. It also stopped Magnus from scratching at the collar of the shirt which had previously never been worn.

“Oh yeah, I wasn’t expecting that answer,” Magnus said completely sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes at him and he raised his eyebrows at her.

“Okay funny man, let’s go get ice-cream.”  
“You know who would _also_ like ice-cream, Killian,” he said.

“Actually, she’s lactose intolerant, check mate Magnus.”

“They have sorbet,” Magnus said.

“Oh, shit. That’s true. She would probably love sorbet. I haven’t asked her. Oh my god I don’t know whether or not she likes sorbet. Maybe I don’t know her at all. What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour is like default truth or dare question number one.”

“Maybe you should find out,” Magnus said. “By like, bringing her here some time.”

“You think she’s free right now?” Carey asked.

“I mean another time. When you’re not technically on a date with a boy to win money. A time when you’re preferably not on a date with anyone _else_ ,” he said.

They walked into the parlour. Most of the servers were teenagers from their school, which was the usual for most stores around the Neverwinter High area. It made asking for service rather strange, especially when it was your own friend behind the counter. Once Magnus had gone to the fish and chip store where Merle had worked part time during his shift and died just a little bit on the inside when he needed to order from him.

There was a recognition, a greeting from Carey who knew the boy serving them from cheerleading, but ultimately a tolerable exchange of goods and services.

They found a booth, which fit into the whole parlour theme of a 50’s diner, and sat side by side. They took a photo together, posing with their food. The date had had consistent documentation, evidence to provide Graham later.

“Then again, next sleepover I have I don’t want to have an ice-cream question,” Carey picked the conversation back up. “Seeing as No-elle would totally be there, and we always answer truth or dare questions as a group. It doesn’t seem like a nice thing to do.”

“Ask her to go by which one has her favourite colour?” Magnus said with a shrug. “I honestly don’t know much about robot girls. My wingman advice does have its limits.”

“Wingman? I’m not trying to… She’s just a _friend_ ,” Carey said.

“Just gals bein’ pals,” Magnus said.

“Girls havin’ fun.”

“Just ladies loving ladies.”

“Having sleepovers.”

“Maybe kissing,” Magnus said.

“Getting married, hashtag friend goals,” she said holding up a peace sign. Magnus pulled out his phone snapping a pic of her pose.

“You joke but we are literally on a platonic date right now,” Magnus said.

“Yeah but we’re a boy and a girl so no one will think it’s romantic,” she said. “You know, homonormativity and all that.” Her straight face didn’t hold long, and she broke into giggles. Magnus rolled his eyes.

“But seriously, you know Killian is into you right?” Magnus said.

“I mean, sorta, I figured. But does she know I like her, or will it catch her off guard? I don’t want to like, rush things.”

“You’ve been flirting for three years, and friends for seven! Besides you’re the biggest lesbian I know. Lizard lesbian. Lizbien…”

Carey’s head fell into her hands, and some of her scales around her face puffed up in her exasperation. “She’s just so… she’s my best friend. And she’s so tall and cute and when she giggles she snorts. And now she has an undercut. Magnus she’s so hot, do you know how rude it is of her to be that hot?”

“She’s so inconsiderate,” he said with a scoff. “She probably uses shampoo that smells really nice too.”

“She does!”  
“The nerve.”

“Grab your ice-cream, we’re heading to the skirmish so you can take your anger out on laser tag,” Magnus said, pulling her arm.

“Oh Magnus, you sure know how to treat a lady.”

 

 

The date ended with Magnus walking Carey back to her house. She took a photo of them together, the conclusive evidence to their date. They hugged at her front door and parted ways.

Magnus began the walk back to his house, it would only take forty minutes and with headphones in he didn’t mind the journey. But when he checked his phone, the group chat had musings about the treehouse which peaked his curiosity.

It wasn’t until he climbed inside did he remember he was still in a shirt and slacks as Lup said, “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Magnus?”

To the surprise of Magnus, Kravitz was also there being shown around by Taako, and said, “I think he looks dashing.” Magnus had never imagined his treehouse would be somewhere _cool kids_ with _high fashion_ would hang out, but this place had long stopped being his personal project and had become a communal space amongst his friends.

“Why thank you Kravitz,” Magnus said, tugging at his collar. “I feel dashing too.”

“Were you on a _hot date_?” Lup asked, already knowing the whole situation. In fact, everyone already knew the whole situation aside from Kravitz.

“Oh yes very steamy,” Magnus said, sitting down besides Barry.

“Did you get any tongue?” Lup asked.

“So much tongue. We did like three whole sex,” Magnus said.

“Oh, you have a partner?” Kravitz asked.

“Don’t need to sound so surprised,” Magnus teased.

“My apologies.”

Barry started breaking down in laughter.

“You are all so mean,” Taako said. “Taking advantage of his ignorance like this.”

“Lo behold, Kravitz the new kid doesn’t know all your inner circle musings,” Kravitz said. “I do have questions however, if you don’t mind filling me in,” he said, addressing Magnus.

“Shoot.”

“You built this tree house yourself?”

“All on my own,” he said. He ran his calloused fingers along the grain of the floor. “Don’t worry, she’ll hold.”

“When did you find the time. I heard you were kept back a year?”

“You heard wrong,” Magnus said.

“Wait… Shit,” Kravitz said. How hard he was thinking was almost visible.

“I took the year off,” Magnus said.

“So why are you the same age and level as us?” he asked.

“Because I was previously ahead a year.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t go thinking I’m some sort of Angus McDonald,” Magnus said. “It’s only because when I moved into the country like ten years ago they put me in the wrong year level.”

“Well that’s… anti-climactic,” Kravitz said.

“Sorry my school system fuckery isn’t more exciting,” Magnus said. “I’ll try to do something more story worthy this year, pigeon boy.”

“Don’t call him pigeon boy,” Taako said.

“No, no, I love pigeons, I take that as a compliment,” Kravitz said.

“Yeah Taako,” Magnus said, “What have you got against pigeons?”

“I hate you. I hate all of you. You can all go fuck yourselves,” Taako said. “I love you, but I do not even _remotely_ enjoy any of you. I am too famous to be turned on like this.”

 

 

Monday morning news spread quickly. When a saucy new romance sprang up in Neverwinter High it was the word on everyone’s lips, and this time Carey was the subject. Magnus had heard the news well before recess broke, where face to face Carey was overjoyed at being able to refer to Killian as her girlfriend. Like her actual, real, legit girlfriend. Have you seen how cute she is Magnus? And the way she blushes when I hold her hand? Oh my god Magnus, its still really unfair how cute she is but I can smooch her and it makes it way more okay.

And everyone else seemed to think they made a cute couple. Angus and his group of detectives boasted about how they’ve been picking up the clues for months now, and had predicted this outcome but had been respectful enough not to interfere. Not that it took Sherlock Fucking Holmes to spot that one, Merle had said. The gossip and whispers carried on long after the school bell rang but by the next day the school had moved on to other topics; topics which not once mentioned that Magnus had technically been on a date with Carey only a few days ago. Because no one cared.

Well, except for Graham who had to pay up.

 

 

Merle could talk for hours and hours about botany. His friends knew next to nothing about plant care, but he had a bountiful, lavish, intimate pool of knowledge on the subject.

“See, the problem is everyone treats plants like clones,” Merle said. “But they’re not all the same cut and paste things. They’re not objects, they’re individuals, like how your pet dog deferrers from someone else’s. They each have their own personalities, needs, preferences and _desires_.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Davenport said.

Taako absentmindedly nodded along in agreement trying to not physically gag from Merle’s sensual tone of voice.

“The secret to keeping them alive is not to play music, not to talk to them, but to _listen_ to what they have to say,” Merle said. He reached for a potted plant, which anyone else in his company would describe as ‘one with leaves’ but he would know as a Blechnum Gibbum. “She knows what she need to survive, so all you need to do… is listen.”

He held his ear up to the plant in silence, and Davenport and Taako were genuinely uncertain if he was pulling a prank or not. Davenport leant in a little closer, trying to listen too.

“The _Silver Lady_ says she needs more water,” Merle said.

“Uh huh,” Taako said, watching Merle reach for his watering can. He gently watered the soil of the pot, then he looked the plant over and fondled a leaf, presumably to inspect its health.

“She’s beautiful,” he said, and then kissed the leaf. At that point, to the immense relief of Taako and Davenport’s, the school fire alarm went off.

“The best sound I’ve heard all day,” Taako said, blowing a grateful kiss to the heavens.

“Do you think it’s a drill?” Davenport asked, returning to sign language as the three of them made their way out of the greenhouse.

“In the middle of lunch,” Taako said, pulling a face. “Students only tolerate fire drills if it interrupts our class time, like usual.”

They made their way across the yard to the outdoor basketball court, the designated assembly area. It was soon apparent from the smoke rising in the air that this was not a drill. Whispers and gossip grew louder around them as more students entered the tarmac area.

“Unfortunately, I think the school will stay standing,” Taako said. “It’s coming from the magic classrooms and they’re warded to ensure magic stays within their buildings. My bet is some freshman accidently set his desk on fire.”

“Close,” Lup’s voice said behind them. “But it was actually your super talented sister fucking up her exam homework.”

“You mean for your end of year practical demonstration?” Davenport asked.

“No, the written essay component.”

“How in the fuck did you manage that?” Taako asked.

“I may have been reading the text book out loud and accidently cast a level seven fire storm,” she said, fighting off a proud smile.

“Level seven!” Magnus exclaimed joining the party. “That’s super impressive. Accidentally? No way!”

Lup shrugged, “Ya know, it’s whatever.”

“Pshhh, I could cast that one in my sleep, easy peasy,” Taako said.

Magnus scratched the back of his neck for a moment, “Not… really right? I feel like that would be dangerous?”

“Of course not. I don’t sleep talk anyway,” Taako said. There was a silence between them, at the opportune moment to let Magnus’ anxiety run free. That _had_ been a stupid question, of course Taako couldn’t set his room on fire in his sleep accidently.

Lup and Taako were impressive wizards, everyone knew that. Even the teachers admitted that, annoying as they may be, after a few more years of studying the twins would be more powerful than any of the teachers at Neverwinter High. Merle could do spells to, due to his religious connection to Pan. There were a few cleric students, however not many. Most who possessed magic abilities simply became mages, sorcerers or wizards. Being a cleric wasn’t cool, it wasn’t teen-friendly. It was honestly pretty lame. Even Merle was embarrassed by it sometimes, especially when his friends were in the presence of his parents.

But to Magnus and Davenport, all magic was somewhat bewildering. Lucretia was shy about her magic, but all of her friends knew she was incredibly competent, and Barry could not only perform spells, but explain the science and theory behind their function. Even Angus, who had only taken up magic as a hobby, could cast impressive displays.

 

Which left Magnus and Davenport. Five years ago, a 12-year-old Davenport waved goodbye to Taako and Lup, leaving for their own home the morning after a sleep over. He shut the front door and ran back up his stairs to his room, where Magnus was the last of his friends remaining, and with a solid hour to spare before he needed to head home.

After a whole night staying up with their friends playing Dungeons and Dragons, the two boys were very tired.

Magnus had kept a secret to himself for a long time. While he loved Taako and Lup and couldn’t even imagine a party without them, he was happy they were gone right now. Because last night they had been showing off. Their spells of shimmering sparks, and hilarious illusory sounds had amazed everyone. And there had been a jealousy, and it was ugly and Magnus was ashamed of it; but it was there.

“I really wish I could do that minor illusion spell,” Davenport said. “I could pull so many goofs on my sisters.”

“Well,” Magnus said. And he felt a nervous churn in his stomach. But Davenport was one of his oldest friends, and really, he could trust all members of the IPRE group with his secrets. And for a very brave moment, Magnus shared a scary one. “I can’t do any spells.”

Davenport looked overjoyed at this news. “You too?”

His excitement was infectious, and Magnus soaked the emotion up like a sponge. “Nope. Can’t do magic. I’ve tried but no one in my family has any powers so fat chance.”

“I can’t either! Some of my sisters can, and I don’t know about my youngest yet, but I guess I never got any of the family powers.”

In that instant, a bond formed between Magnus and Davenport. In all honesty, the two had never had much in common, but now they shared something powerful. They drew an invisible circle around each other, and in their Zone of Truth, they shared emotions they had kept to themselves for too long. The guilt from needing to be supportive of their friends and family’s growing talents conflicting with their personal jealousy. The frustration of sitting alone in their room with a wand, saying words, trying to feel something which wasn’t there. The anger from not knowing what they were doing wrong; the materials, the pronunciation, needing a stronger faith in a deity?

 

On the basketball tarmac, safe from a heinous fire made by magic, warded off by other magics, Magnus and Davenport exchanged a glance, both relieved to hear that their good friend Taako couldn’t accidently burn down houses in his sleep.

“I swear you’re too talented for your own good,” Kravitz said, catching the tail end of Taako’s bragging. “Both of you. All of you,” he waved vaguely to the group of friends before him. “I was so devilishly handsome and charismatic the Gods needed to adjust the scales and revoke my magic powers. But they forgot to take something away from you Taako, and you’re just all around too good at everything.”

Taako giggled in a way which was reserved for his crush giving him immense flattery. “A few inches taller wouldn’t hurt.”

Back when Kravitz had first mentioned he couldn’t perform magic, Magnus felt that cruel satisfactory joy from learning that another person he knew couldn’t do magic either. Maybe it wasn’t a cruel joy, maybe it was just a regular joy from finding people who were similar to him, but it felt mean to enjoy that fact that someone couldn’t do something which was pretty cool, simply because he also couldn’t do it.

“If that’s how it’s meant to work,” Magnus said, “They should’ve given me something back when they took my magic.”

“They gave you plenty of strength mister, and height,” Taako said.

Kravitz’s dark red eyes found Magnus, and Magnus was momentarily lost in their consuming pull. There was a smirk at the corner of his lip and he said, “Don’t worry, they gave you handsome too.”

How any teenager could say something like _that_ with ease was beyond Magnus. He was also struck by the realisation that it was the first genuine compliment he had received on his appearance in years. Before he had to form some semblance of a response, the stern voice of Mr Jenkins called a sharp, “Luuuuup.” The elf stiffened, haunching her shoulders in a cat-like manor. “Principal’s office, now.”

She was escorted away, finally detained for her destruction. Taako saluted her exit.

“What even is Lup’s last name?” Kravitz asked. In a moment of shock, he looked at Taako, his boyfriend. “Or… for that matter yours?”

“I guess you’ll never know,” Taako said.

“You… you do have a last name, right?” he said. No one answered him, and the man had a short panic attack, trying to figure out if this was the truth or if he had stumbled into an elaborately constructed ruse.

“I mean, if everything goes my way, Lup’s last name will be Hallwinter,” said Barry smugly.

“The what now? Hallwinter? If everything goes according to _who’s_ plan?” asked Magnus.

“My… my last name is Hallwinter… you… you didn’t really think my last name was Bluejeans did you?”

There was a silence as the rest of the friend group got a sampling of the mind-fuckery Kravitz was experiencing.

 

 

“Maaagnus can you carry me back to the locker rooms,” Merle droned, the moment their PE teacher Mr Kalen was out of ear shot.

“Really?” Magnus said, with the disappointed non-surprise of a broken man.

“Pleeeeease I’m really tired.”

“It’ll take forever to get there,” he said, pointing to the last students of their class already across the field.

“It’s last period who cares,” he said. “Besides, I thought you were _really strong,_ Magnus.”

“I am _really_ strong,” he said. “Okay fine.”

He lifted the dwarf, carrying him bridal style. It was actually an easier feat than he had expected, Merle being half the weight of him, and he being twice the size of a usual teenager.

“Oh gosh, you’re so strong Magnus,” Merle said, teasing his voice to be a shitty attempt at feminine. He fluttered his eyelashes to help his performance, draping his hand over his forehead.

“Strong is what I do. You guys have cool spells and I have muscles.”

“While you studied your spell slots, I studied the blade,” Merle said.

“Ha-ha did you just meme, my friend? I’m proud of you Merle, you’re like a real teen now.” Magnus popped Merle down as they reached the locker room door. “Anyway. M’more of a hammer and axe man myself but if it’s a good enough sword-”

It had been completely silent when they entered the room, but they had rounded a row of lockers to see a shirtless tangle of Taako and Kravitz making-out on the bench.

Magnus cleared his throat, “Gentlemen.”

The two boyfriends let out an almighty yelp.

 “What the shit?!” Taako shouted, scrambling to his feet and, in a fit of anger and panic, throwing the closest object he could find at Magnus, which was unthoughtfully, his shirt. “Wait, no I need that back,” Taako said. Magnus threw Taako’s shirt back to him. “What are you doing here?”

“What are we doing here, in this locker room of this public school, which we both attend?” Magnus said. “We’re here to change, like, the locker rooms’ original purpose”

“Psssh, come on, everyone knows the locker rooms were practically built for gay make-outs. Isn’t that right Krav?”

“Actually in England we don’t have locker rooms. Well, we have changing rooms but there’s no lockers. We make out behind the music portables, or in the far corners of the oval.”

“What the hell is an oval?”

“And why does it have corners if it’s an oval?” Merle asked.

“It’s just a large grassy area, like a football field with no football on it. Or like. There can be football but it’s a round ball and a different game entirely,” Kravitz explained. “I think you call it soccer. But we also play your football sometimes.”

“Who CARES” Taako said, throwing Kravitz his shirt.

“Oh, by all means fellas,” Merle said opening his locker. “Don’t get dressed for us, it’s no disturbance.”

“It’s a disturbance for me,” Taako said. “I can never get _intimate_ with my boyfriend without fear that you two bumbling idiots are going to barge in.”

“Again, _a public school,_ which we _attend,”_ Magnus said. “You can get intimate in your bedroom like a normal fucking people.”

“And are you saying that you haven’t broken into my bedroom unannounced before?” Taako said.

Magnus scowled at him. “That was only like… three times.”

 

 

Three months of bi-weekly detention was apparently the cost of burning down a school building. Lup accepted her fate of Tuesday lunch time school yard clean up, and Friday afterschool detention.

“Jokes on them, I already do my homework on a Friday,” she said, stabbing a plastic wrapper with her garbage collection stick. “But this is stupid, I’m not _permitted_ to use magic. Apparently, that would belittle the punishment and give me an unfair advantage over the non-magical trouble makers.”

“Well, yeah,” said Angus, who was walking alongside her. “That’s how punishments work.”

“Honestly, I’m just surprised it took me until 11th grade to get any serious punishment. I’ve always gotten away with it. Like in year 9 I accidently melted the school microwave trying to catalyse a fire-resistance potion. And in year 8 I called a teacher an ogre-fucker when he failed my math test. I think he really was an ogre fucker though, or at least he had an ogre fetish and just didn’t want anyone to clue on.”

Angus laughed along, always easy to get along with and entertain. “I’m surprised half the teachers in the school didn’t attend your hearing at the principal’s office.”

“If they had their way… well they know I’m also really good at my classes. I think they want to keep on my good side because they know next year I’m going to score really well and give this school a solid rep boost. If I can make it out of your shadow that is,” she said giving Angus’ arm a nudge.

“You must be really good then, for them to tolerate swearing. Burning down a building, that’s nothing. But some rowdy swears, oh boy,” Angus gave a fake shiver. “And what about, what about Mr Grimmaldis? Did he try and come after you too?”

“Mr Grimmaldis?! No way, he hasn’t stepped within a mile of me all school year.”

“Oh?” Angus prompted. Hopeful.

“Don’t you worry Ango, he _will_ pay up,” she said, her eyes looking into the distance at nothing in particular.

“And what exactly, would he be paying for?” Angus said, trying to urge some answers from her.

Lup gave him a side eye, as she tipped out her bag of garbage into a bin. “What are you playing at, boy detective?”

“No playing, I’m just curious.”

“Well, your curiosity can get me in trouble. No more questions, but if you bump into Grimmaldis, tell him I haven’t forgotten. _I haven’t forgotten anything._ ”

 

 

“So… Kravitz…” Magnus drew out each consonant, his eyes darting to each corner of the treehouse before landing on the boy in question. Kravitz looked up from his phone, and his rich red eyes were just as strikingly confronting, yet handsome, as ever. “What kind of things are you into, besides Taako of course.”

Taako screamed as he hurled his book directly at Magnus’ head. It was battered away and fell to the ground in creases. Lucretia’s face fell despondently as she tried to endure the suffering of seeing book maltreatment. Kravitz laughed. “I like a lot of things. I really like paranormal lore, as Lup and Barry have discovered. Classic horror novels, deep web conspiracies. Taxidermy.”

Magnus gave a side glance to Taako. “Yeah, I know, he’s really weird,” Taako said. “Ask him what he wants to be when he grows up.”

“What do you want to be?”

“A forensic pathologist,” he said, with a wide grin.

“You _want_ to study dead people?” Merle asked incredulous. “Like on purpose?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Aren’t you afraid it might get creepy?” Merle asked, wiggling his fingers.

“The secret is to be creepier than the thing you’re studying,” Kravitz said. “Hence my collection of thousands of haunted dolls which whisper to me each night to kill.”

A silence fell over the group.

“I’m kidding, gosh. I only have _one_ haunted doll. But see, the bodies will be too spooked by me to come back to life,” he said. And he said it in the most casual tone that not a single person could figure if he was being sarcastic or not.

“So, you just, dream of working with dead bodies?” Davenport asked, signing the strange phrase.

“Dav, don’t make it sound like a sex thing,” Taako said with a sneer.

Aggressively, Davenport signed, “There was no innuendo in my tone!”

“Oh no it is definitely a sex thing,” Kravitz said. “Those cold, stiff bodies. Smell of decay. So sensual.”

“If I hadn’t already lost my ammunition, there would be a book being thrown at you right now, sir,” Taako said.

Lucretia picked up Taako’s book and threw it at Kravitz for him.

“Hey!” he squealed. “I was kidding.”

“You’re so weird!” Taako said. “You’re lucky you’re really handsome. Because yeesh.”

A moment of silence passed before Merle said, agape, “You _WANT_ to work with dead bodies, _on purpose?”_

“Yeah. Well it’s not like it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“What did you want to be when you were younger babe?” Taako asked. The word babe slipped from him with such natural ease, as it did with Lup towards Barry. Merle still giggled at that. Magnus tried picture himself saying babe, but his brain instead returned an error message. Lucretia scribbled the four letter word down somewhere in her journal.

“I… oh gosh its embarrassing to say out loud.”

“You just talked about wanting to fuck corpses,” Merle said.

Lucretia turned to a new page on her journal and frantically started writing.

Kravitz wringed his hands together. “Well, okay, fine. I wanted to… keep in mind this was when I was young. But there was this steam train in my local town and it was the main tourist attraction and I really wanted to be the conductor.”

“That’s really, _really_ , cute,” Taako said, reaching for his phone. “I’m telling absolutely everyone.”

“No!” he said, and he buried his face into his hands as a blush spread over his cheeks.

“Everyone thinks you’re emo and weird,” Taako said. “I want them to see you as cute like I do.”

“It’s so embarrassing,” his muffled words said through his hands.

“Taako, you know the rules,” Magnus said. “What is said in the Zone of Truth, stays in the Zone of Truth.”

Taako looked up, confirming that yes, they were in fact in the tree house, and this time-honoured rule must be recognised. He sighed and closed his phone. “Fine. Okay. It’s your choice, Krav.”

“I’ll.. I’ll give it some thought,” he said. “But for now, I’d rather be weird foreign exchange kid than boy conductor.”

“What a reputation.”

“Besides, the steam train shut down years ago. So it’s not like I can do that anyway. I’m not a presenter or an entertainer, I can’t draw a crowd. I just wanted to pull the cord which makes the honk noise and blows the steam.”

“You really don’t know a thing about trains, do you?” Magnus asked.

“Not a damn thing.”

 

 

Taako was bouncing up and down in his chair as his friends arrived at the lunch table one by one. To him, the pace of their arrival was excruciatingly slow. The last to arrive was Merle, who had chosen to walk at the slowest pace of any living creature Taako had ever seen. Each second it took for Merle to travel, Taako felt steam build inside of him, and he was just about to burst.

Finally, _finally_ , the dwarf sat down.

Taako took a sharp breath, and then in one word let out, “guesswhosgoingtobeontv!”

There was silence around him, as a wide grin was plastered on his face. Jumping where he sat, everyone stared.

“Guess,” he said. “Guess, guess, guess-”

“Is it you?” Magnus asked.

“Yes.”

Magnus’ eyebrows shot up his head. And then there was a thump of cutlery as his hands hit the table in realisation. “No fucking way! You’re going to be on TV!” A passing teacher scowled at the cussing teen.

“Yes!” Taako said.

“Holy shit!”

“Holy shit indeed,” Taako said, as another overhearing teacher lost faith in this generation, due to their choice words.

Magnus launched himself over the table, pulling Taako into a hug and only tipping a few of his friends’ lunches in the process.

“You’re like a real celebrity now,” Merle said.

Lup seemed almost seething with rage. “Why didn’t you tell me first? We tell each other everything first. I was the first to know when you were born. When did you find out, Taako?”

“I got the offer on Saturday, I had to pass it to my agent first,” Taako said. “Sorry Lup, I wanted to tell everyone at once. Couldn’t trust you to keep a secret.” He shot his sister a wink.

Her frown lightened a touch, and a smile found its way to her lips. “I’m super proud of you.”

“What kind of TV role is it?” Lucretia asked, reading Davenport’s ignored signs aloud.

“It’s an advertising role for Revlon Goldcliff,” Taako said.

Lup let out a delighted squeal, while the rest of his friends nodded along with dead reception. “That’s a make-up brand,” Kravitz explained. There was a collective, “Ohhhhh,” and then nodding along with more certainty.

 

 

By now, Magnus had had a very long time to think about the fight he had gotten into last semester. In fact, he had thought about it every single afternoon when he got home from school, or anytime his friend table fell into the silence, or anytime he was struggling to focus on work. Which was a large amount of time to have thought things through.

He had made several conclusions.

Firstly, it had hardly been a fight. It was a rough-housing which had at most caused both boys a few scrapes and bruises. Why he had ever feared he had brought serious physical injury to Little Jerry was beyond him, he should stop boasting his own abilities.

Secondly, it had been a perfectly valid reason to fight. While most people would only throw a punch for self-defence, he was bigger and stronger than most people. He could take a hit, and thus when he had a point to make which could only be made through action, he should make it.

But finally, the most important thing Magnus had decided, was that the fight had been mutual. Little Jerry had sought Magnus out for a purpose. And Magnus had delivered.

It had been two months since that fight when Magnus found himself crossing the school football field one lunch time. It was a rainy day, and everyone was huddled inside the cafeteria, but he needed the fresh air. His shirt began to cling to his skin, and he was certain every single teacher after lunch would berate him on this. So many fucking rules, about standards and appearance.

He saw Maarvey leaning against the goal post. He looked like a wet dog, an abandoned mutt who relished in disgusting passers-by, and he was eyeing Magnus with that same purpose Little Jerry had two month ago.

“Not today,” Magnus said, walking intently past him.

“Come on Magnus, you’re known for your brawn not your brain,” Maarvey said.

“I’m foolhardy, not stupid,” Magnus said. Maarvey kept up pace with Magnus’ strides in a half jog.

“No one’s around, and I ain’t gonna tell if you ain’t,” he said.

“Tell your band of merry dumbasses I don’t fight anymore,” Magnus said.

Maarvey quickstepped ahead of Magnus, holding him by the shoulders and forcing him to stop in his tracks. The physical contact made him momentarily recoil, and Magnus pushed the hands off him with an audible smack. “See Maggie, see? Violence is human nature. It’s our nature.” He held his hands open, inviting. “These public schools pretend to be posh, but they’re not. They can’t cast out kids like us from the wrong side of the tracks.”

“Don’t call me Maggie.” Magnus glared at him a moment before he took a step to the side. Maarvey of course, blocked his path. “And what is this ‘us’ bullshit? I’m not in your gang. What do you want from me?” Magnus asked.

“I want you to hit me,” Maarvey said, growing more agitated.

Magnus had a moment of resolution, which came in the distinct voice of Lucretia in his inner mind. “Why?”

Maarvey froze. An uncomfortable silence passed between them, and Magnus himself processed the question he had asked. Why?

Instead of answer, Maarvey tried to throw a punch, but due to his smaller height, and also the fact he was a 17-year-old boy and not a judo master, Magnus easily sidestepped, and retaliated. He elbowed Maarvey on the back, using his downward momentum to then knee him in the face.

“We’re boys Magnus,” Maarvey said, hunched over and clutching his face. “We’re filled with violence. Us Hammerheads know we’re assholes. But we’re a family, we can’t our own.” Maarvey stood. His lip was split and drooling crimson. “But you can.” The very sight of blood on the other boy’s lips poured shame into Magnus, and he fled.

He moved fast and soon found himself running, sprinting, distancing himself from his mistake. He didn’t really care how weird it looked for a teenager with a backpack to be bolting along the streets full speed ahead, he just needed to run. His body took him on a familiar path soon entering the wooded area behind the neighbourhood. Under his feet, his shoes sank into mud and he had to run with more force, more exertion.

“Fuck,” he said under his breath. The word felt good. Like throwing a punch, the syllables hit something solid, unlike other words. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

He ran until he reached the ladder he had built a year ago, leading up to the Zone of Truth. He wanted to keep moving, to keep running from the thoughts bound to catch up to him. Running from that split-second mistake. Instead, he climbed the ladder and crawled his way inside. It was waterproof, which if he wasn’t being crushed under a wave of panic and shame, he would be proud about.

He lets his body thump down into the pillow pile, which is followed by a muffled, “Yowch!”

“Shit!” Magnus shouted through his heart attack. From under him, Taako wriggled free, and his head popped out from the blanket world.

“What’re you doing, crushing me like I’m Wile E. Coyote and you’re a comically large anvil?” Taako asked.

“Timely reference,” Magnus said. “Sorry, I just didn’t see you there.”

“Pshhh, Taako not being the most apparent and attention drawing thing in a room, must be a bad day for both of us.”

“Well… yeah,” Magnus said. He pulled his knees to his chest, grabbing one of the pillows for comfort. “Taako can I tell you something? And you can’t tell anyone else, especially Lup and Lucretia.”

“This is the zone of Truth after all, so shoot.”

“I thought you were too old for tree houses and Merle’s games?”

“Yeah but I’m not too old to try and be a good friend for once in my fucking life,” Taako said. “What’s troubling you Maggie?”

“I did a hit,” he confessed. “On another Hammerhead. Maarvey I think?”

“Oh shit,” Taako said. “Did he deserve it?”

“I… I don’t know? He was asking for it so it’s not like I was being a shitty person or anythin’. Like he was asking for it literally, which was really weird. I just… I feel _bad_. Not like bad as in, I shouldn’t’ve done it but… I know that Lup and Lucretia and especially Mr Waxman would be really disappointed in me if they found out.” He looked down at his own hands. “I’m just taking that disappointment in myself hard.”

 “You only hit him once?”

“Yeah. And I tried to tell him to back off.”

“So you tried to diffuse the situation?” Taako asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’d say that’s pretty good for Magnus ‘Rushes in’ Burnsides,” Taako said. Magnus looked up at his friend, catching his smile and returning it. But he also saw the sadness behind Taako’s eyes. His usual projected pep was lack lustre. “You’re not Lucretia and you’re not Lup, and you may want to be like Mr Waxman, but you’re not him either.”

“Well, what about you, Taako from TV? It’s the middle of the school day, why are you moping around here all alone?”

“Oh it’s… stupid.”

“Yeah probably. Tell me anyway,” Magnus said.

Taako rubbed at his face, careful to not smudge his eyeliner, and groaned into his hands for a long moment. “Okay. Alright. I’m…having boy trouble. But technically not. But the boy trouble is that I’m not having trouble with the boy which is what makes it an issue.”

“Not following at all. Proceed,” Magnus said.

“Kravitz! Fucking perfectly handsome, sweet talking, dorky, smart Kravitz! I like him a lot. I really like him. And he likes me. And we may have started dating. I’m honestly not sure. But he’s going to go back to his home country in a few months which may as well be another plane of existence it’s so fucking far away.”

“And?” Magnus asked.

“It’s… I… I don’t want him to be far away,” Taako said, with an exaggeratedly pathetic whine. Magnus patted his back. “But I don’t want to break up with him just because he’s not here because I think something really good could come from this. Or maybe not… Maybe I’m just going crazy because he’s my first potential boyfriend and really we’re not compatible at all? How am I supposed to know?”

“You’re not a fan of long distance relationships?”

“I’m _sixteen,_ Magnus. I’m not planning on marrying anyone anytime soon. I want to make out and hold hands and go on brunch dates to gourmet restaurants and cuddle and not only see him on a two-dimensional screen. I want to bone, Magnus!”

“Hmm,” Magnus said. “Quite the pickle.”

“I’m just… I don’t want to lead him on. But I _do_ like him. So, it’s not leading on. And I just… I just don’t want to go about this the wrong way and hurt his feelings big time, and end up being the worst fucking elf to ever live.”

“I guess… just tell him how you feel. Or give it more time and actually figure out how you feel,” Magnus said. “You two only just met a few weeks ago. But in the end, do what your heart tells you.”

“What my heart tells me. I got this big fucking gullet up here-” Taako pointed to his head “giving me too many potentials and no actual solutions.”

“I think you’re just afraid to have a serious conversation,” Magnus said.

“Of course I am. I’m six-fucking-teen. I feel like a goddam toddler. I feel like a kid. I don’t feel like a real adult person who is meant to be having relationship issues. Especially not with someone who I’ve been _extremely_ casual with for only a few weeks. And I don’t want to say the wrong thing to him. What if he’s super committed to me. Or what if he isn’t at all and he’s already planning to forget about me the moment he goes home?”

“Well the thing about boys is, if you like him and you’re super nervous and loosing your cool-”

“-I never lose my cool-”

“-then he’s probably really nervous around you too. You know the fact that you’re thinking about it so much just means that you reaaallly like him.”

“Augh.” Taako said, and he fell back down into the blankets.

“Augh,” Magnus agreed, following him down. They stared at the wooden ceiling for a little bit. Occasionally a drop of rain would slip through the cracks. Magnus contemplated the nail job he had done, and how much better the roof would be if he had made it now with his better carpentry experience. Taako looked at the rafters and wondered how anyone could build something which held the weight of so many people in the air, was made from only wood, nails and a dream, and didn’t have any magic involved in the crafting process.

“I spent all last year being so miserable. I… I crafted this treehouse. I poured hours of work into it. And it was fun. But I refused to accept that. Because I was in mourning. I shouldn’t be happy at a time like that. I can’t be having fun. But I guess I was allowed to be feeling troubled and broken. What I’m trying to say is, take happiness where you can find it. You don’t need to desperately cling to it when it’s leaving, just appreciate it while its here.”

Without a word, Taako rolled onto his side, and Magnus followed, wrapping an arm around his friend’s waist. There they lay, trying to cope with far too many thoughts and emotions than either knew what to do with.

“I can’t believe I’m talking to _you_ about boy troubles,” Taako said, almost too quiet to hear.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Magnus asked.

“Its means that you were my only boy troubles for the past however many years.”

“Wait, you liked me?”

“Good of you to finally fucking notice.”

“I had… err…” he began to overthink the hug they were sharing. “Uhhh…”

“Don’t lose your head, I’ve moved on.”

Magnus squeezed Taako playfully. “Just didn’t know I was such a boy magnet.”

“Come on you’re a total bear cub.”

“I don’t know what that means but I really like girls.”

“You know, there’s a word for people who like both,” Taako said.

“Is it a word that Merle’s parents use whenever we’re at his house,” Magnus sat up and cleared his throat. “ _Have you heard the word of pan!”_

Taako kicked Magnus, but burst into a fit of laughter. “Or bi or whatever you prefer.”

“Yeah well, I prefer not thinking about it all. The past year of my life I’ve had to do nothing but think about who I am and what I want in life and yada yada. Too much figuring stuff out for one life time. Just tell me where to punch and I’ll do it.”

“You’re smarter than that Magnus,” Taako said sitting up.  “You’re smart enough to figure out where to punch.”

“Is the answer nowhere?” Magnus asked.

“Only according to the girls. Of course it’s not nowhere. But if you can figure out punching you can figure out sex. That’s like, the two most basic human instincts. What do I wanna punch and where do I want to put my dick.”

“I don’t just mean putting my dick in things I mean. I think the hardest thing to figure out, like ever in your whole life is like, ‘what’s going to make me happy’ like in the long run. And I just. I dunno.”

Taako looked at Magnus’ nail polish. It was chipped, as opposed to his own which were perfectly painted because he used a protective coat, unlike Magnus, _an animal_. It was a small difference to some, a big one to others. It was a preference. What would make him happy, in the long run? Or even in the short run.

Kravitz. Undoubtedly, he made Taako happy. But would the grief of their separation outweigh the overall happiness? Math was for the Barry Bluejeans’ of the world.

He wanted Kravitz. And he didn’t want the hurt.

“I don’t know what will make us happy,” Taako said. “I just hope it doesn’t take the rest of our lives to figure it out.”

And then Taako looked at the rafters surrounding him. He had already known therapy and recovery have been poured into them. But now he knew a conflicted emotion had been there too.

“You deserve to be happy,” Taako said.

“Everyone does,” Magnus said.

“No Magnus, you, specifically. Deserve to be happy. And I hope that you learn it.”

 

 

“Why Taako, how did you get your skin to glow with such brilliance?” a dwarf girl, with false buck teeth, teased hair and terrible acting skills said half to Taako, half to the camera.

“It’s all-natural baby,” Taako said, his acting somewhat less awful, but still overblown. He turned and winked into the camera. “That and a lot of make-up.” He held his finger up to his lips and blew a hush.

Beside Lucretia, Merle laughed at the scripted joke. They sat side by side in front of Lucretia’s tablet watching Taako’s TV ad which had been hyped to them for weeks.

“Revlon Goldcliff, highlighter range is like none other. A sparkle that _magically_ brings out your _natural_ shine,” recorded Taako said, twinkling his fingers. Bad computer graphics followed his motion.

“If magic wasn’t so bad on film his actual cantrips would look far better,” Lucretia said.

Merle’s phone buzzed, and he opened a text. “Magnus is free, should we invite him over?”

“Sure,” Lucretia said.

It only took twenty minutes for Magnus to arrive, the perks of living in the same neighbourhood. When the scruffy boy had found his way to Lucretia’s bedroom he jumped at the sight of Merle and Lucretia with green faces.

“Happy birthd- You’ve been cursed!” he said.

“It’s a facemask Magnus,” Merle said. “We’re _exfoliating._ Get with it. _”_

“You exfoliate?” Magnus asked.

Lucretia loaded up another one of Taako’s TV ads. “Taako sent me a box of free samples from his makeup campaign for my birthday. Merle was the only one available for a spa day.”  
“You say I’m the ‘only one available’ like I would have been reluctant to this,” Merle said. “This is therapeutic. So, what do you say, big guy? You up for some deep cleanse treatment.”

“If we get to watch more of Taako’s bad ads sure,” he said sitting down.

As they went through the five ads of the campaign for a second time, Magnus painted Lucretia’s nails. By the third re-watch, they were giggling along like idiots and by the fifth they could say each ad word for word.

Merle pulled out his Extreme Teen Bible, finding a passage to cast a soothing spell over the room. The Breakfast Club was played and the three fell into a relaxing silence, the smell of moisturisers, perfumes, nail polish and all other sorts of beauty products fading into the periphery of their senses.

Something compelled them in the late afternoon to journey to the Zone of Truth. There Magnus lost a game of Chess to Lucretia terribly, before Merle and Lucretia had a very intense match. They both took a very long time to decide their movies, but they make a big production of it.

Magnus commentates, finding joy in dramatizing little plastic pieces moving about a board very slowly. “Two pawns, locked in a years combat, a perfect match for the other, unable to fell that which they face directly. Rivals, and possibly short term lovers? But the white pawn is slain from behind, betrayal, as a bishop takes his life in a gruesome move.”

Lucretia giggles as she puts Merle’s pawn aside.

“The holy warrior stands, and faces his comrade, a lowly pawn and says, ‘Now you can continue your quest across the battlefield, and maybe even someday become a queen.’”

Merle tries to ignore him, his next move vital to the next seven steps he has planned out. This concentration is broken as Magnus in a squeaky voice narrates the pawn, “No, I wanna grow up to be a bishop juuuust like you.”

“Okay Angus McDonald shut up,” said Merle, reaching for a piece before changing his mind.

 

 

The next school lunch was filled with Taako regretting mentioning his ad campaign, as Magnus, Merle and Lucretia would instantly begin a live recreation of them.

The moment he mentioned Revlon Goldcliff it was followed by Merle shouting, “Are you Taako from Instagram?”

“Oh yes dearie,” said Magnus, tugging at his vocal cords in a terrible mock of his friend’s voice.

“Why Taako, how did you get your hair so shiny smooth?” Merle said.

“And so lustrously plump?” Lucretia said, her underlying monotone betraying her ability to perfect the role of doe-eyed admirer.

Taako groaned into his hands.

“A magician never reveals his tricks…” said Magnus. Together the three of them said, “But Revlon Goldcliff’s hair shiner and shimmer range is no trick! Just spray, wait and rinse for magically delectable locks!”

Taako pouted over the sound of his entire friend group laughing. Davenport pulled up his laptop, as the IPRE group once again watched his advert set in the Felicity wilds, where he encounters three dryads with ‘dry roots’.

“That one’s my favourite,” a soft voice said beside him. Taako turned to see Kravitz leaning against the chair beside him.

“You watched my adverts?” Taako asked.

“Of course I did. I’m your boyfriend. Being supportive is what boyfriends do,” he said. With a smile he added, “They’re really good. And your friends sure are entertained.”

“Entertained,” Taako said. He looked at his cluster of friends, realising that they had in fact, been talking about his ads for non-stop for the past few days. A rush of pride began to warm him. “Yeah, that’s what I do, darling. I entertain.”

“You look great on TV,” Kravitz winked at him, leaning down and peaking his cheek. Taako at that, felt a tingle run up his spine and his ears began burning hot. _Stay cool, stay cool, stay cool. Oh god he’s so fucking hot, and smooth._

“Thanks babe,” Taako said.

 

 

Two kids named Pringles and John were occupying the space in front of Magnus’ locker at the end of the day. Pringles, of course, was not his real name, but basically no one in school called him Robbie. He distinctly remembered Lup asking ‘ _Whoms’t?_ ’ when Mr Kalen shouted at him for being lazy in PE class. Pringles and John were, to no discretion, stoners, with their collective name being The Munch Squad. Infamous for their crimes of smelling terrible and eating during class. And now, taking up a space Magnus needed to access before leaving the school for the day.

“Don’t think great exfoliation can hide what you did,” Carey said, grabbing Magnus by the ear like a bossy mother figure.

“Ow, ow, ow. You need to tell a man before you hang him for a crime Carey!”

She took his shoulders and glared directly at him. He felt a single bead of sweat run down his back. She leant in closer, a hint of her fangs bared. “I know about Maarvey.”

“Shiiiiiiiiit,” said Magnus, his head sinking into his shoulders. “That was like a week ago.”

“Magnus, you can’t keep getting into fights like this. You’re going to get expelled. Or like put prison or something. Maybe a psyche ward? I don’t know. But it’s stupid,” she tapped his head a few times, trying to hear for a rattle to confirm her suspicion that there was only a peanut in there.

“He started it!” Magnus said.

“It takes two to fight,” she said.

“He… he…” Magnus heaved a sigh.

“Listen, I get it. You’re a teenage boy with all this energy and testosterone and … fight juice, inside of you. You’re a brawn guy, but you’re also a bit of a brain guy so use that brain to realise that you’re a brawn guy.”

“I’m lost,” he said.

“You’re a fighter Magnus. People, we’re all violent dumbasses who have a bit too much brain to let punching and killing people we disagree with to be legal. So you gotta get all that fight juice out of you.”

“Please stop saying fight juice.”

“Come to karate with me this Saturday. I do _cheerleading_ and that’s not enough to get all the energy out of me. You do _nothing._ You need something. Something active.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” he said. Carey stepped back and held her arm out.

“Well, your freedom awaits,” she said, indicating the free path to his locker.

 

 

The winter air was sharp to breath in, especially at 10pm when the first football match of the season wrapped up. Magnus and Taako sat side by side huddled for warmth. Barry Bluejeans sat with them too, albeit without the decade of friendship to make him comfortable with huddling like a penguin. The rest of their friend group had left at half time, no as invested in cheerleading or the game as they were.

Magnus could hardly believe it had been two whole years since he had last played. Football used to be his life; proudly brandishing the school uniform in the halls, performing in front of hundreds to make his friends, family and community proud.

He closed his eyes, soaking up the atmosphere, and for a moment the white noise roar of the crowd became _his_ crowd, when it had been his friends cheering and screaming his name. He remembered blood pumping in his ears, sweat making his jersey cling to his heaving chest. He remembered rushing into the stalls after the game, still high on adrenaline, and hugging his Dad tightly. His father would always tell him how proud he was, regardless of how Magnus had performed. That certainty, that security in seeing his smile made all the pain of training and all the stress of performing more than worth it.

Once Lup came up to the stands, Taako and Barry took their leave with her.

Magnus stayed and watched the game pack up, and Mr Waxman, sitting in the bleacher behind him, did not question this.

Magnus watched Maarvey run a victory lap with his fellow Hammerhead friends, his bruise from Magnus’ knee invisible from this distance. After shaking his friends’ hands –  Little Jerry’s scars were completely gone by now – Maarvey made the slow walk across the field. Magnus watched him climb the stairs, making his way up the stalls. No spring in his step, no eager rush, as nothing but a sports bag waited for him there. For a long moment, as Magnus watched Maarvey collect his equipment, he wondered if there were any other scars which he was too far away to see.

“Steven,” Magnus said. “I… Carey suggested I take up karate.”

Mr Waxman stood, climbing over the seats to sit beside him. “That sounds like an excellent idea.” He followed Magnus’ gaze, seeing the lonely boy make a slow journey into the shadows.

Magnus wanted to ask so much. He wanted to ask if money would be an issue. He wanted to ask if Karate would be an outlet for his energy like football had been, or an outlet for his violence. He wanted to ask if Mr Waxman would come to all of his Karate performances, if he would cheer him on, if he was going to become _his dad_ or just remain a friend of the family or something else. He wanted to ask if Mr Waxman had ever done anything he was ashamed of. If there was a way to feel better about it eventually. Instead he asked, “Are you ready to go home?”

“Yes,” Steven said, playing along as though it had been his idea to stay as long as they had.

 

 

The first unpleasant sensation consciousness brought Taako, was immense pain to his neck. Then it was the distinct non-feeling of having a numb ass from sitting down for too long. He lifted his head, allowing the rush of migraine to enter his senses, and the frustration at realising his hair was knotted beyond comprehension and would require intensive painful care in the morning.

As his vision un-blurred he recollected his memory, a million transmutation text books scattered about his desk. In the corner of his papers, a drawing of his costume for the play.

He picked up his wand, looked at the scribbled notes he had made, and felt his headache worsen at the thought of continuing his pet project.

He checked his phone, the background a goofy selfie he and Kravitz had taken together last week, and the clock blared a venomous 4:35 AM at him.

“If it wasn’t balls deep into winter it’d be sunrise soon,” he said only to himself. He wanted nothing more than to keep working on his special project. The show needed _something._ A spark. A wild card. But thinking of something so show stopping would take time. And sleep. So he dragged his corpse to his bed, where he passed out almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar  
> \- An extremely short Candlenights update
> 
>  
> 
> >Kravitz is a sarcastic asshole and i love him. Also the amount of times I wrote Kravtiz instead of Kravitz his wild. Wild!  
> >If you can't tell, Magnus is my favourite character, and this original story was based on him entirely.


	3. Candlenights Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar  
> \- A short break in which everyone celebrates Candlenights in their own way

Candlenights season brought with it a two week break from school. While in previous years this had meant staying up all night, playing video games or binge watching Netflix, when you were in your last years of school this was an exciting opportunity to catch up on homework.

Still, the break was not entirely wasted on work.

The first night Lup hosted a sleepover, inviting Carey and Killian along with the usual gang. The topic of No-elle makes the two girls dance around the conversation, both unaware of their partner’s reciprocal thoughts and feelings about her. They are never short to compliment her talents however, or to share sweet anecdotes of her, or to call her cute in every other breath. Their shared crush apparent to all except each other.

Lucretia found this dance of conversation highly interesting, taking notes for her Sunday night project. Of course, documenting things in a journal was also a great way to act like your stern expression was from concentration, rather than immense jealousy with a hint of hidden sadness.

Lup tried and failed, to be invited to Lucretia’s house on Sunday night. Lucretia of course, offered, almost begged, Lup to come over any other time, revelling in the prospect of her company.

Merle was whisked away with his parents to spend the three major days of Candlenights at the Church of Pan. While Candlenights was a pan-religious holiday, each religion had factored it’s time period into their own faith and practices, making Merle a reluctant celebrant of this joyous season. He hung decorations throughout the church halls, their iconography holding no more significance than fairly decent art to him. He sang hymns of words he thought no more highly of than poetry, which was total indifference. And he shared in prayers, words he had memorised long ago in his youth, now at an age where he no longer felt guilty for questioning their meaning, and whether his religion meant anything at all, but still at an age where he could not tell his parents this.

Davenport’s family weren’t celebrants. They carried on the days of Candlenights as any other days of the week. Most of his friends, religious or not, received presents from their family, and he felt a little jealous when he received nothing. Even though this was how it had gone his whole life, he still saw Candlenights decorations in the supermarket, heard carols on the radio and themed adverts on TV and he couldn’t kick the feeling that he was missing out. But during the break his parents took him and his sisters on a car trip, a two-hour long ride into the mountains known as The Teeth. There, they explored a quaint tourist town which had a store filled with novelty teapots, and they shared lunch and bought cakes and laughed and were together as a family. And the meaning of Candlenights was meant to be all about family after all, so Davenport concluded that he wasn't missing out on what really mattered.

Barry’s family insisted he bring his girlfriend around for a family dinner, promising not to make a big deal of it, and then proceeded to embarrass him thoroughly. His brother constantly referred to the fact that Barry was a nerd, and Lup was pretty, popular and a cheerleader. Lup tried to convince him that she too was a nerd but got frustrated with the need to prove herself and gain nerd credit points. When the couple retired to Barry’s room, they both agreed that Barry’s brother was an asshole. Barry said something along the lines of Taako comparatively being a more tolerable asshole. “Debatable,” Lup had said, and Barry had thoroughly agreed.

 

On the second day of the Candlenights break, Julia Waxman returned home. She was visiting for the two-week break, having flown back from her boarding school.

Magnus had known her almost all his life. When his father and Mr Waxman had caught up, the two had played together. But several years had passed since Magnus last saw her face to face. She was almost as tall as he was, and she had fluffy hair which framed her face like a halo and a smile which radiated warmth into the room. Magnus watched her face light up at the sight of her father, and she leapt into his arms hugging him tightly. She held her dad for a long time before waving hello to Magnus. All he could think was how goddamn beautiful she was, and he willed himself not to make a fool of himself.

“Wow Magnus, you’ve grown so much since I saw you last,” she said.

“Y-you, uh,” Magnus said, making a fool of himself. “Hello.”

“What’s it been like, living with my old man?” she asked. “His cooking has kept you alive, which is a good start.”

“It’s been… yeah it’s been fine,” Magnus said.

Despite his incapacity to talk, she still beamed him a smile.

“Your rooms in the old study, right?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well come on big guy, show me what you’ve done with the place,” she said taking his hand to lead him through the house. For the first time ever in his life Magnus worried about hand sweat.

After asking about literally every poster and book and speck of dust in Magnus’ room, Julia, Mr Waxman and Magnus all sat at the kitchen table, catching up on Julia’s time at school. All of her stories were fascinating, and Magnus quickly learned that while Julia was a pretty girl, this beauty reflected on the inside ten-fold. She spoke of helping exchange students with English, and of volunteer and protests she had been a part of. These stories also showed Magnus that her beauty should not be mistaken for weakness, because there was a fire in her too, and a take no shit attitude. After all, one of her tales involved making one of her teachers cry when she stood up against him for wrongly persecuting a disabled student.

 

 

On the final Saturday of the Candlenights break, Lup and Taako invited their friends around for the afternoon because their aunt had a family recipe for apple strudel she was eager to share.

“Look at master chef Burnsides over here,” said Merle as Magnus meticulously plaited some dough.

“I’m a food artiste,” he said.

“You ate dry noodles for lunch yesterday,” said Julia. She had been eager to tag along, and Magnus had been more than happy to invite her. And if Taako could bring his boyfriend then he could bring his… family friend.

“Oh no, my hot goth aesthetic,” Kravitz said, sounding not the least bit perturbed. Everyone’s attention fell on his all black outfit, which was now half covered in flour.

“Hang on, I’ll fix it,” said Taako. He swiftly smacked Kravitz’s butt, leaving a floury handprint there. “Ah perfection,” he said, kissing his fingertips like a real chef.

“Taako!” said their aunt, with a great huff. Despite her stern words, there was a smirk in her eyes.

“Sorry auntie,” he said.

The very old cooking counter on the bench began to scream, making most of the present company jump. “Mine’s done!” Lup said, grabbing a tea towel and pulling her dish from the oven. “Are y’all ready to taste some perfection?”

Davenport removed the chef’s cap from his moustache, which had been there for purely comedic reasons, to smell the delicacy as steam wafted into the air. The scent left everyone transfixed for a while. Lup eating the dish brought her many an envious stare.

“You all look like a pack of hungry wolves,” she said.

In the blandest, most deadpan tone he could muster, Kravitz said, “Woof.”

When the other desserts had finished, everyone was almost brought to tears by the flavour. Even the most disastrous of chefs had succeeded under the guide of Aunty Taako.

Magnus licked his bowl clean. _Yes,_ he may be in the presence of a _really pretty_ girl, but he was not going to lose his integrity because of it.

His heart skyrocketed when she did the same. She didn’t even do the respectable, finger in the bowl, lick the finger, transfer which almost everyone else did. She just dove right in to lick the dishware.

Gosh, she was amazing, Magnus thought.

And gosh it had been a long time since he had had a crush.

But damn did it feel good to have one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar for next semester  
> \- The responsibilities of parenthood  
> \- Developments in the Grimmaldis case  
> \- The terrors of in class presentation  
> \- Two really popular elves have a house party  
> \- A school play goes horribly wrong
> 
> The next chapter is the biggest one in the story, with two major events. So it's going to take a while to write and make sure I nail the drama. Generously, I give it a month? Maybe longer now that Uni is back, or maybe less if the urge to write strikes me hard.  
> ILY y'all.  
> Also I did some draws of sweetflips if you wanna see my personal hc:  
> http://apocahipster.tumblr.com/post/171477338184/sweet-flips-in-my-highschool-au-are-cheerleaders


	4. Semester 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar for this semester  
> \- The responsibilities of parenthood  
> \- Developments in the Grimmaldis case  
> \- The terrors of in class presentation  
> \- Two really popular elves have a house party  
> \- A school play goes horribly wrong

Outside it was hailing. The sound on the roof of the house was borderline apocalyptic, but Magnus honed his ears, listening to Julia play her guitar in the corner of her room.

He had all but avoided her bedroom for the past half a year. Going into a room while she was gone had felt like an invasion of privacy. There were posters on the wall of musicians she liked, all indie folk bands which had inspired the simplistic singer-song writer tunes she played now. She also had abstract paintings taped about the place, created throughout various years of her childhood, all colourful and free spirited.

Magnus simply laid on her bed, looking at the decorations strung everywhere. For the past few days she had been teaching him a few guitar chords, but he forgot them easily, and it was simpler to just listen to her play, her fingers dancing about the guitar’s neck as though it was as easy as breathing. As though breathing was easy.

As though anything was easy.

“I thought it didn’t rain here,” she said, the hail still barrelling down outside.

“It’s rare, but it happens,” he said.

“I guess I’m only here during the summer, because of boarding school. I don’t think I’ve had more than a week in Neverwinter during _actual_ winter since I moved in with dad,” she said. “Strange that, the name is a little inaccurate.” She giggled at her own comment, but Magnus was lost, drifting with the rain outside. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m gonna miss you,” he said.

She still played as she spoke, “I’ll be back for the Summer. And I get to stick around for three months then.”

“Why do you go to some upstate fancy private school anyway?” he asked. “Like I get that you’re way smarter than the rest of us and so-”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Put yourself down,” she said. “Or your friends.”

“I was just trying to compliment you,” he said.

“Then don’t do it like that,” her voice was stern at that. “Everyone is smart in their own way. Even if you don’t believe me, you know Lup and Taako are brilliant. I go upstate because I got a scholarship there. And Dad is a carpenter. He works really hard and he wants to see me, in what he thinks, is a more successful career.”

“So, you’re going to be a big money, high class business woman?”

“Doctor, lawyer, politician or dentist,” she said, with a lilt of laughter. “I don’t know. I have no damn clue what I really want.” She finally put her guitar down.

“As long as you’re not a carpenter.”

“It’s just not for me. I can’t hammer the nails without getting scared for my fingers.”

“I could teach you,” Magnus said. “It’s not that hard.”

“Tonight, or in six months?” she asked.

“It’s not like learning guitar, you could probably get it after a few tries,” he said.

“And how long does it take to build a whole treehouse,” she said. “You know that’s super impressive, right? I still won’t believe it until you show me, but you have to be really determined and really damn clever to pull off a project like that.”

He rubbed at his face, feeling soft stubble under his hands, trying to hide his sheepish smile. Why, oh dear god she was so sweet. She was so pretty. She was so… so… she was _incredible_.

“Are you excited for school to go back?” she asked.

“ _Oh yeah I’m thrilled,_ ” he said, his words oozing with satire.

“You don’t like school?” she asked.

“I just don’t like sitting still for so long,” he said. “And learning things I know I’ll never use. And I hate the way they segregate sports classes. I want to play football against Killian, even if she is an orc and has some natural advantage. And the lunch food. If you can even call it food.”

“That’s quite the list,” Julia said.

“Yeah well, that’s all nothing really. The main thing is… well.. uh… okay, promise not to… think less of me…”

“What is it?” she asked.

“Uh…” he kept his eyes fixated on a poster on her wall, unable to look at her directly. “I keep… getting into fights. There’s these guys and they pick fights with me. And it’s super bad but I rise to it sometimes…and hit them back.”

“Why?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I just have a lot of energy… and anger. The things they say don’t even mean much but since I lost my dad I just get annoyed that a good man like him is gone but assholes like the Hammerheads are still around.”

“No, I mean, why do they pick fights with you?”

“Because they’re looking for a fight and they know I’m dumb enough to rise to it,” he said. He caught her face falling at the self-deprecation again. “Honestly I have no goddamn clue. Ask them. They’re just, angry at the world or something. Public school kids can get away with a lot more than boarding school elites can.”

“There’s usually some deep psychosocial reasoning behind why people are violent. It begins with bullying, or domestic abuse or some other issue. It doesn’t excuse it, but it can help to understand where they’re coming from.”

“I never really thought about it,” Magnus said. “Or cared.”

“Well, I always grew up in a fairly balanced home. Even my parent’s divorce was fairly clean.” She rose and moved to sit on her bed beside Magnus. “So, you really don’t want to go back?”

“It’s hard to say. I definitely don’t want to _not_ be at school. Being away from my friends and from teachers even having strangers around me… being secluded from society was killing me. Having so much time on my hands more so. But like, having assignments and homework and even if I’m not sure how what I’m studying relates to my future, learning things feels good. The treehouse was just a distraction but being a part of school and getting on with my life… it gives me hope.

She reached out and gave his arm a friendly rub, the contact sending electricity throughout him which he hid as best he could. _Play it cool Magnus, play it cool like Taako would._

“It’s a new year, make it work for you.”

Around them, the sound of hail faded to the bucketing of rain. It was no longer a warning sign to stay indoors at home. By dawn, Julia was gone. The sky was still overcast, but the clouds were a welcome sign that time had passed. Winter had begun, and that was welcome after a never-ending summer.

 

 

Davenport climbed the stairs to Neverwinter High which were, ironically, soaking wet. On the final stair he slipped, and his elbow hit the concrete beneath him. He received the mixed crowd response of laughter and ‘Oh no are you okay?’. He stood, and a few tears slipped from his eyes due to the pain.

Luckily amongst the crowd was Merle, who took his arm and pulled him inside the school building.

“Hey buddy, rough start to the semester,” he said, taking his school bag from his back.

“So much for _Never_ _Winter_ ,” Davenport signed back, the gash on his elbow making the gesture sting. “Years of Global warming have no respect for traditional weather patterns.”

From his bag Merle pulled an antiseptic wipe and a band-aid and began patching up Davenport’s bleeding elbow. Unable to sign, he stood wordless until Merle was done. “Don’t you have magic spells for healing?”

Merle blinked at him for a moment. “ _Shit._ ”

“He didn’t want to waste a spell slot,” Taako said from behind the two. He was wearing a vintage yellow raincoat which matched the large umbrella he was folding down. As he closed it, a burst of flame short forth from the end of the staff, leaving a smouldering floor tile in its wake. Davenport and Merle looked back up to Taako, who’s eyes were wide in shock. “Holy shit!”

“I told you not to take my things,” Lup said, her arm interlaced with Barry Bluejeans’, who was struggling to carry all of his books in his other arm.

“This happened when I tried to use your lipstick,” Taako said. “Why the fuck does all of your things explode?”

“Because they’re mine.”

Everyone nodded in understanding, somewhat resembling of that one Kermit the Frog meme. “That tracks,” Lucretia said, joining the party. “Lup, Davenport, ready for class?”

“Still need to get to my locker,” Davenport signed, his cut elbow nagging him at the motion.

“Well, captain let’s get going, no time to waste,” Lup said. “Love you babe,” she said, exchanging a kiss with Barry before everyone split down their school-designated paths.

 

 

Taako, Magnus, Merle and Barry Bluejeans all shared an English class. Mr Grimmaldis was a perfectly fine English teacher, however he also had absolutely nothing in common with teens.

“All of you probably have a firm understanding of what you want to do in life,” Mr Grimmaldis said.

“Wrong,” Taako ‘whispered’ loud enough for the whole class to hear.

“That ideal future has plans for a family, and babies-”

“Wrong.”

“-and while you may all feel like you are mature adults -”

“ _Wrong._ ”

“-you are all- Taako will you shut the hell up,” the teacher said. The class sat frozen for a moment, as though it wasn’t perfectly reasonable for a teacher to want to swear at Taako. Mr Grimmaldis refused to acknowledge his mistake, instead continuing on, “You are all still immature and irresponsible. Which is why we, as a school, pride ourselves in teaching important, real, life lessons.” From beneath his desk he pulled out a large carton of eggs. “This is your first week back assignment. Treat these eggs as you would your own children. Do not lose them. Do not break them. They are all signed personally by me. I expect them all back next week. Keeping your egg safe will contribute to your grade.”

Mr Grimmaldis began passing out an egg to every student.

“I never thought protecting an _egg_ would be an English assignment,” a girl named Ren said.

“And we have to write an essay for cooking class, the irony is delicious,” Taako said.

It was then that Mr Grimmalis’ phone rang, extremely loud, making him drop one egg in shock.

Taako clicked his tongue. “That’s going to cost you marks Mr G.”

Mr Grimmaldis stood shocked for a moment, then put the carton down and fumbled his phone from his pocket. He continuously tried, and failed, to unlock it.

“That ringtone, what is it?” Magnus asked, something in his mind tingling.

Merle squinted as he listened in, tapping his prosthetic arm to the beat. “It’s definitely familiar,” Merle said, partially humming along.

“It’s a default tone!” Mr Grimmaldis said.

“Oh god I think I know what it is,” Merle said. “It’s the My Little Pony theme song.”

The entire class turned to stare at their teacher, who in his panic, answered the phone call said, “No,” into the receiver before hanging up immediately. The class was silent.

“Eggs!” he shouted. “You are all probably wondering why I have assigned you all eggs to care for.” He turned to the whiteboard, pulling out a marker, ignoring his hand shaking in fear and embarrassment. “Who can tell me what the central theme of our studied works have been so far?”

One girl raised her hand high, eager to answer the extremely easy question. No one else cared enough to do so, too distracted rolling their eggs around on their desks.

“Family!” she said.

“Yes,” he said, writing the word on the board possibly in an attempt to regain some semblance of teacher-based authority. “We already looked at family in the context of the Kite Runner and Little Miss Sunshine. We learned about how family transcends blood relations. Some of you may even consider your friends to be more a part of your family than your actual relatives. For this assignment-” he held up an egg “-you are to treat this egg as your own child. Care for it. Hand it back to me next week for 5% of your grade. And then another 15% will be determined by your oral presentation.”

The whole class groaned. Even the several people who had been distracted by their eggs heard the dreaded words of a presentation.

“Linking the novel, the film, this assignment and your personal experiences if you wish, give a summary of what a family _is_.”

“Personal experiences…” Taako muttered bitterly. “He expects us to talk about our personal lives in front of these chuckle-fucks?”

“Nope,” said Magnus.

“I’d rather die,” said Merle.

“Not in this lifetime,” Barry said in agreement.

 

 

“My Little Pony?” asked Angus McDonald. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah Merle said he’s heard it a million times because his little brother Mookie watches it, like, incessantly,” Magnus said. “But Greg is a grown adult man and not an eight-year-old boy… so maybe it doesn’t relate.”

“Only according to our current knowledge of Mr Grimmaldis,” Angus said. Magnus sat down on the cafeteria table in front of Angus, probably crushing someone’s Caleb Cleveland book. Around him, the cult of fans was discussing the newest novel, Caleb Cleveland, Kid Cop: The case of the Scarlet Letter. It was sure to be a great mystery, with a solid twist, yet all the necessary clues to solve it well before it’s reveal!

“Okay, so new scenario,” Magnus said. “Mr Grimmaldis is actually two eight-year-old kids in a trench coat pretending to be a teacher, and they bribed Lup for all they had between ‘em. Fifteen dollars.”

“Or, he’s only one eight-year-old boy who has cast a disguise self spell on himself.”

“And it’s a public school, the hiring board doesn’t give a _shit._ They were just like, no criminal record? Willing to interact with teenagers, _check!_ ”

“Goofing aside, do you really think Mr Grimmaldis being a Brony has anything to do with the case?”

“It’s really our only lead in months. By this pace, you’re going to graduate before we get anywhere,” Magnus said.

Angus frowned at his books. “Yeah, I am going to graduate soon, aren’t I?”

“What?!” called Taako as he pulled into a chair beside Angus. “Baby Ango isn’t allowed to get older, but you know who is? Me and Lup, _ah smooth transition_.” Taako pointed at himself in pride.

“Yeah, not only are we getting old in a few weeks,” Lup said, having seemingly teleported besides Magnus. “It’s our sweet seventeens!”

“There is no such thing as a sweet seventeen,” Magnus said.

“Uh, excuse you, we only get to be seventeen once, and it’s gonna be sweet,” she said.

“One year and two weeks from now, we can finally become the dancing queens, young and sweet,” Taako said. “So naturally, to mark this momentous occasion, we’re having a little get together at our house.”

“ _Little,”_ Angus said, “For some reason I highly doubt that.”

 

 

“Babe can you pass me my pencil case?” Lup said, the object within easy reach if she sat up straight in her chair. Regardless, Barry happily obliged her request.

“Here you go sweetheart,” he said.

“Love you, Barrikins,” Lup said.

“Love you too, Lupernuckle,” he said.

“ _Love you Maggiewaggie,”_ Merle said, his voice overtly gushy.

“Oh, why gosh,” said Magnus, putting two fingers to his cheeks and twirling them like an old fashioned poster boy, “I wuv you too Merliewhirly. And Lucretiaweesha,” he turned to where she was sitting beside him.

She remained stoically terse, drawing her glare away from Lup and Barry, and giving Magnus a long stare. “You joke, but have you heard the nicknames Taako has been using on Kravitz?”

“I hope not,” Kravitz said.

As if on cue, the elf joined the table, sitting besides Kravitz. “Are you ready for our gym lesson this afternoon, Kravvy-Patty?”

Kravitz responded by burying his face in his arms.

“Hey what about me and Magnus?” Merle asked. “We’re in your gym class too?”

“I gave up asking about your preparedness a long time ago compadre,” Taako said. “And Magnus could be bleeding from all orifices and he’d still be up for gym.”

 

 

Mr Kalen was a cruel, evil, selfish man, who cared more about his own reputation than that of the welfare of others. Mr Kalen was a sports teacher.

The start of the semester came with fitness testing through the use of an especially niche torture device known as The Pacer Test.

“My legs are in _hell,”_ said Taako, his face already bright red. Despite being short of breath, he found a way to speak; he was a man of many words. “And the sweat is already making my face run. I mean of course I water proofed it but the Atlantic Ocean is practically pouring from my face right now.”

Several people laughed but only Kravitz said, “You look fine. Also, fun fact, back home we call this the Beep Test.”

“I thought they had advanced beyond medieval torture in England,” Taako said.

“Nope, we’re still in the dark ages, still have a monarchy after all,” Kravitz said. “Although Liz Two isn’t so bad,” he said right as they all hit the end of the twenty metres, pivoted and began the run back. The loud squeak of 40 sneakers echoed throughout the hall.

“I don’t know how long I can hold out,” Taako said.

“Just pretend,” began Merle, his words coming between heavy pants. “That at the end of the twenty metres, someone is about to photograph the mess your face is in right now, and put it on mySpace, and you gotta stop ‘em.”

“MySpace?!” said Magnus, who was yet to break a sweat. “No, that’s _ancient_ , you can’t possibly… you totally said that one on purpose.”

Merle chuckled, which turned into dry heaving, and him tapping out to get water, having passed the 5.5 score mark.

“And then there were three,” said Kravitz.

“Ignoring the other 40 people around us,” said Magnus.

“Three that I care about.”

“If you cared about me, you’d end my suffering with a mercy blow,” Taako said. “Bless Lup, she’s been making me help out with her cheerleading routines, otherwise I’d be a husk by now.”

By the 7.0 mark Kravitz made his leave. As he poured a water bottle over himself, it was barely noticeable as his shirt had already been drenched in sweat.

“I think my blisters have blisters,” Taako whined.

“For someone who complains a lot, you’re doing _really_ well,” Magnus said.

“I whinge. It’s _what I do_ ,” he said. “We can’t all _like_ this sacrificial slaughter.”

“I don’t like it either,” said Magnus. “I only like running when I’m going somewhere.”

By now Taako’s words came very slowly between heaves of air. “Yeah… but… you... _like…_ running.”

“Situationally,” Magnus said, watching Taako lose pace, his legs giving way as he collapsed. He began dramatically clawing himself across the gym floor towards where Kravitz and Merle were sitting.

Mr Kalen over a megaphone said, “Taako! Stop that, now.”

Taako stopped moving altogether. “I’m dead sir,” he said. “You’re going to have to carry me.”

Magnus on his lap back graciously leapt over Taako’s corpse.

“Mr Burnsides! That’s far too dangerous.”

“He’s already dead sir!” said Magnus.

“If you boys keep this up, you’re going to get in trouble.”

“Sue me,” said Taako. “I can afford it.”

Magnus however, shut his mouth and kept running. He couldn’t take another detention to his record, the fear of what would happen if Little Jerry or Maarvey spoke up, or if there had been witnesses. No, he needed to keep his reputation low.

Taako was ordered to his feet, making a walk of shame out of the gymnasium towards the gym teacher’s office.

The only three kids who beat Magnus were Killian and two boys on the football team. Previously it had always been him who had checked out last, but no longer pulling the hours and hours of cardio required for professional sports, he had lost his streak.

 

 

That night, Magnus’ legs were aching from the run, but he found a renewed energy for his first ever karate lesson. Meeting up with Carey ten minutes before class she was dressed in her full gi with a proudly brandished red belt. He just had on gym shorts and a singlet, but he wasn’t the only newcomer so overall, it was socially okay. She introduced him to a friend of hers named Hurley, a halfling who was at her brown belt and proudly claimed she could knock Magnus to the ground before he could blink.

There were warm up laps, but most of the actual class was muscle building. His Pacer Test scores were unlikely to improve by much, not that a 12.7 was anything to be ashamed of. The kata were pretty interesting, but his favourite was by far the mock sparring. Both attacking the bags and holding them for Carey to let loose her fists and feet (and tail) of fury, was a fun activity. It was something he enjoyed. It wasn’t the same as fighting, but it made him far, far happier.

 

 

Davenport and Merle made their way through the woods towards the Zone of Truth. It was only the second day back from school, and Merle had failed his first assignment. In his hands he held a bowl containing as much of a salvaged egg as he could scrape off his bedroom floor. Davenport, like a normal person, had made his egg its own cosy where it rested safely on his desk at home.

They climbed the ladder seeing only Lucretia inside. She was staring at a book in her lap, huddled up in the mounds of blankets.

“Good I was hoping you’d be here,” Merle said. “Lucretia, you’re a smart woman.”

“Look!” Davenport said, pointing to the egg cosy she had beside her. “See I told you it was what normal people did.”

“It’s not a _normal_ thing, it’s a smart thing which nerds would do,” said Merle, failing to hear the slight whimper coming from Lucretia. “Anyway Lucretia, do you know any spells to fix my egg?”

Lucretia continued to stare at her book, her eyes not moving as she did so.

“Like a mend egg spell. Healing word? Healing bird!” he turned a grin to Davenport.

“Good one!” he said.

Lucretia’s eyes filled with tears.

“Mine kind of, got dropped… hey… Lucretia?”

She let out a sharp gasp of air into her lungs, quickly covering her mouth to hide the sound.

“Oh no, Lu what’s wrong?” Davenport asked, sitting down beside her. Merle put his egg bowl down, before sitting across from Lucretia. Both of them knew not to touch her, a personal preference she had made clear a long time ago.

Instead they waited, beside her. For a long time. She did not say anything, only cried. And cried. And then tried to collect herself, grabbing a tissue from the sleeve of her cardigan, before bursting into more tears.

“I… I’m… it’s embarrassing…”

“I’m just about the lamest guy I know,” Merle said. “You’re fine.”

“Yeah, and Merle’s just about the lamest guy _I_ know,” said Davenport. Merle glared at him. “Embarrassing things happen to me all the time, there’s not judgement here.”

The whites of Lucretia’s eyes were stained red with exhaustion and emotion. “I’ve… never had a boyfriend. Or… any partner. At all. I’m seventeen. And I don’t think I’m going to meet anyone anytime soon…”

“Hey, we meet new people every day,” Merle said.

“No, we don’t,” said Davenport.

“Like, every term,” Merle adjusted. “What I mean is, we only met Kravitz like a few months ago. Taako had no idea he’d meet his boyfriend before the moment they met. The future holds potential dear Lucretia.”

A few more tears rolled down her cheeks, gentle ones this time, slipping their way through unannounced. “I know I just… No one’s even been interested in me. Basically no one outside my friend group knows who I am. I don’t even know if I like anyone. Well… I…” she began to choke up again. She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it for a moment.

Then she looked at Davenport and Merle. Neither boy she had any remote feelings towards besides friendship and trust. Merle had had several girlfriends before, all of which were either mistakes, or girls who realised that Merle was not necessarily better than ‘no boyfriend at all’. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could look at either of them in a manner of desire. She would never say this of course, she was not an awful person.

“Lup,” she finally said with a quiver. “Lup, oh my god Lup. She’s… she’s gorgeous. She’s so beautiful. Last prom she had her hair curled in a way that made me feel like my heart would melt if I looked directly at her. She’s so smart, her grades and the magic she can do is phenomenal, and her sense of humour is astounding. She’ll tell a joke or a quip which makes me just fall so deeply in love with her mind. Thinking of her now, I’m already wanting to write poetry. Write love letters and tell her. I want to tell her so badly. Not even to see _if_ she liked me, but because she deserves to know. That someone loves her. That someone notices all the little things she does and loves them. She deserves to know she’s loved.

“But she doesn’t feel the same way. So, I can _never_ tell her. Because it would hurt her so much knowing that I’m so… so deeply and madly and wildly head over heels for her. And Barry Bluejeans, thank god he actually tells her how much he loves her. Makes her feel respected and adored. Otherwise, I’d. I’d. For years I’ve been thinking of what I’d say to her potential boyfriend. About all the things she deserves. About what he could have that I don’t.”

Lucretia wrapped her arms tightly around the pillow she was holding, staring at the waving curtain to the treehouse’s entrance. “What if she overheard all this? What if she knew? I will never tell her. She will never know. But… what if?” There was a short beat of silence before Lucretia continued another point. “I’ve never been kissed before. I’ve never even been on a date. I watch movies and read books with romance in them, living vicariously through fiction. There’s this expectation. That in high school you’ll get a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, or a partner of some kind. There’s an expectation that you’ll have sex before you reach college. I know that people in our year level have. That my friends have. That they’ve skipped class to smoke weed, and they’ve gone to big parties with excessive drinking. And I just… exist. I just do my homework and follow rules.”

“I do that too,” said Davenport. “I’ve never had a kiss or done anything illegal. I’ve never done anything story-worthy.”

“I have,” said Merle. “Ironically, most of the exciting things I’ve done have been on Bible camp.”

Lucretia cracked a smile at that, wiping a vagrant tear from her cheek. Watching one of his strongest friends so broken, wracked, and emotionally distraught, and knowing it had been a slow growing kind of bottled up depression, Merle was dedicated to help mend her.

“Listen, someday you’re going to meet someone who will look at you like you’re the entire world,” Merle said.

“That’d be nice,” Lucretia said, rocking herself gently. “I hope so.”

“I know so.”

“Anyway, these things change so quickly, one day you’re all alone and the next you’ve met your Hecuba.”

“Merle, who the ever-loving fuck is Hecuba?” asked Davenport.

“My girlfriend.”

“You have never even once mentioned her.”

“Sure I have!”

“Not even once,” Lucretia said.

“What do you mean, I talk about her all the time!” Merle said. He rose to his feet, passing his cracked egg to Davenport, an insignificant issue in retrospect to the rest of their lives. He held out his arms, one real, one prosthetic, but both open and inviting. “Whatever, come on Lucretia, Dav and I were going to go back to his house to have a _Touched by an Angel_ marathon.”

“Do you think the glowing aura of Della Reece will help me this time?” Lucretia asked, rising to her feet with Merle’s help. Davenport grabbed Lucretia’s school bag as they all left the tree house.

“Is there anything Della can’t fix?” Merle asked, giving way for her to descend the ladder.

 

 

Mr Grimmaldis stood at the door to the classroom, ticking off names as he was presented eggs by each student.

“Mr Burnsides…” he said, picking Magnus’ egg out of its house to make sure it was fully intact. Magnus watched the teacher inspect the egg. He knew what Mr Grimmaldis wasn’t saying; that he hadn’t expected such a clumsy, big foolish kid to take on and accomplish a task so gentle. “I’m impressed,” was what he actually said, surprisingly, albeit also condescendingly. “Mr Highchurch,” he held out his hand.

He was passed a zip-lock bag containing a disaster smash of shell and yolk. Sheepishly, Merle said, “My egg… sorta, uh broke… So, I learnt my lesson that… family is a fragile thing.”

“Save it for the presentation,” Mr Grimmaldis said bluntly, putting a cross next to Merle’s name. “Taako, you seem to be finding your friend’s situation rather amusing,” he said to the giggling elf. “And yet I do not see your egg?”

“Well, you see, it is not _lost_ , per say. I know exactly where it is-”

“Egg-xactly,” said Magnus.

“Thank you, Magnus,” Taako said, standing in the doorway and holding up the rest of the class from entering. “Now, if we want to get philosophical, the outside, the shell, isn’t really _the egg_ , it’s what’s on the inside which counts. The white and the yolk. And to further this importance of what is inside, that is where the egg is. Safely. Inside. My stomach.” Finally, Taako’s voice cracked and he let out a wail, breaking down at the doorway. “I cooked him! Scrambled him up into a delicious omelette with a hint of salt and pepper… but more importantly, I’m a monster! I accidently cooked my son!”

“Inside,” commanded Mr Grimmaldis, pointing through the doorway.

 

 

Oral presentations were a slow and boring process for the audience. For the few minutes of presenting time, which felt like fleeting seconds, it was an adrenaline shot of pure fear. In her own class, Lucretia was the only natural presenter amongst the bunch, her voice demanding an audience to present and lecture to. Kravitz did alright too, his sweet English accent lulling his classmates into adoring his every word, although not processing them at all, instead picking apart the rather odd ones, like how he said _yoghurt_ and _castle_. Neither which were words relevant to an egg/family assignment but clearly chosen to exploit the popularity of his voice.

Davenport relied on his well taken-care of egg, simply accepting the percentage loss from not doing his oral presentation.

Back in the class of the Tres Horny Boys’ (plus Barry), Merle’s presentation was a disaster.

It took all of Merle’s strength to keep a straight face as he sat down, snapping to his friends when they tried to whisper to him. Every snicker, every laugh, made his face flush red, and his breath go shallow and he wanted nothing more than to be hiding under the blankets at the Zone of Truth, or possibly drowning in the sea.

When the bell rang, he was the first out the door.

Taako and Magnus exchanged a glance, deciding it was best to let him go.

 

 

“And this one is, _“I’m gay,”_ in case people can’t comprehend the concept of you like, dating a boy,” Magnus said, performing the more obscure sign. “Unless you’re bi? I never actually asked you.”

Kravitz chuckled softly. “No, I am gay. Although I’m not sure how necessary it is for understanding things Davenport would be talking about. Unless… is he gay?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Magnus said with a shrug. “I guess now if he tells you you’d know. And you can do…” he made a gesture, and then explained it as, “ _Me too_.”

“Oh, yes!” Kravitz repeated the sign. “But, I could just say it to him with my out-loud words.”

“If you’re going to learn sign language you may as well be able to like, speak with it too. You don’t know how useful it is until you’re in the right circumstance.”

“Yes well, it is a skill I have been meaning to learn,” he said.

It was an unseasonably warm day for the middle of winter and most students were spending lunchtime outdoors including the IPRE group who were sitting on the football field in the grass.

“Magnus! Great everyone’s here. Okay, you remember that vacation I was planning we all have?” Lup said, addressing the circle around her. “Well, except for you, Kravvy, soz we didn’t know you when I started planning.”

Kravitz shrugged, indifferent.

“Well, I’m going to book the campsite, I’m planning the weekend in the middle of Spring Break.”

Everyone nodded in approval, all steam ahead.

“Where’s the site?” asked Magnus.

“It’s up in the mountains,” she said.

“The Teeth?”

“Yeah.”

“You want us to go on a _holiday_ somewhere called _The Teeth,”_ said Taako.

“It’s really pretty up there,” she said.

“Lots of trees too,” said Merle. “I’ve read that they have some of the best natural walks there.”

“You’ve _read_ about nature walks?” Taako said.

“Do you even know me?” Merle said a little bit hurt.

“I thought you were akin to nature,” said Barry. “But news you broke your egg.”

Merle let out a wail. “Oh God, I can’t believe I failed the first assignment of the semester. And it’s such a damn easy one too!”

“You’re a failure of a father, Merle!” Lup said laughing.

“Should’ve built a house,” signed Davenport.

“I’m telling you, no one did that…” Merle said. “Except you and Lucretia.”

“I just took an egg carton out of the recycling,” Magnus said. “Cartons are like, _scientifically_ designed to protect eggs.”

“I built mine its own nest with straw and grass. Seeing as nests were _biologically_ designed to protect eggs,” Kravitz said. “Plus, I spent a lot of time in my youth helping my mum make temporary homes for rescue birds.”

“I’m just glad I don’t need to watch Lup and Barry cradle their eggs in that damn baby carrier anymore,” Taako said. “Although their stupid Sharpie faces were undeniably adorable.”

“Well I’ll be glad when this English topic is over. This whole lesson about parenthood… It’s making me think about my dad,” Magnus said.

“I’ve never met your parents,” Kravitz said.

“They’re both… gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m fine. Really. I never really knew my mom. I just miss my dad.”

“Who do you live with now?” Kravitz asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Mr Waxman. He’s an old friend of the family. He was practically at our house all the time when I was a kid. It’s just that… now here’s actually raising me, its strange. And I think he’s still learning how to raise a rough kid, compared to his daughter Julia.”

“I remember _Julia_ ,” Kravitz said, smirking and doing a peculiar dance with his head.

From across the group, Lup shouted “Yeah, she the _super cute girl_ who is _appropriately_ Magnus’ age!”

“And she is enamoured by him,” Lucretia added.

“Yeah thanks guys,” Magnus said. He turned back to Kravitz, “So, what about you?”

“Yes, I am also a super cute girl who is appropriately your age,” he said.

Magnus hit Kravitz’s shoulder, and they both snickered. “I meant what’s it like back home?”

“My parents are good,” he said. “My dad can tolerate my mum’s bird obsession so, if that’s not a sign of a stable relationship, I don’t know what is. Do you know the Fantasy Tower of London? We live… hmm… about an hour away, and when I was little she always took me there on trips to see the famous ravens. They’re renowned for their intelligence. But to be perfectly honest, it’s nice to be staying in a house away from the constant sound of squawking. It’s been a therapeutic couple of months. My host family have one cat, and that’s it.”

“Do you know what’s _not_ a chill time,” Taako said. “My detention.”

“Tell me about it,” mumbled Lup.

“What’d Mr Kalen give you for sassing him?” Merle asked.

“An essay. And three lunches of incarceration in which to write it. To teach me to _respect my elders and become better equipped for the future._ Or something like that,” Taako said with a scoff.

“It’s a stupid thing you did though T,” Magnus said. “Not really something worth breaking the rules for.”

“Yeah unlike beating up on Hammerheads,” Taako said.

“Shut!” Magnus said, feigning zipping his mouth closed.

“You better do the essay right, Taako,” Lup said. “Otherwise they’ll keep you back during break and we’ll all go on vacay without you and risk having an enjoyable time.”

“Having fun _without_ me? Impossible.”

 

 

“There has to be something here,” Magnus said flipping through papers.

“Wouldn’t anything be at his home? This is all kids’ assignments,” Angus said, scanning a row of folders on Mr Grimmaldis’ bookshelf.

Magnus pulled at the drawer to Grimmaldis’ desk, but it was firmly locked. “Shit, it’s probably in here.”

Angus let out a sigh and made his way over to the desk. He pulled a bobby pin from the rim of his deerstalker cap and began to fiddle with the lock. “What are we even looking for?”

“Evidence,” Magnus said.

“Gosh, can you please be a little more _vague_?” Angus huffed before the lock clicked open. Immediately Magnus dove into the paperwork, throwing them onto the desk. Mr Grimmaldis’ office was only partially secluded, and every passing shadow made Angus jump with fright, until he was hiding behind the sturdy oak desk. “Hurry up.”

“I found it!” Magnus shouted, far too loudly. “Or… I found something… It’s a fine.”

“A fine? For what?” Angus’ curiosity outweighing his fear, stood up from behind the desk to peek over Magnus’ shoulder.

“I think… it’s for the local mall? For damages to… a claw machine?” Magnus said reading the letter, his brow furrowing deeper with each line he read. “It says he broke the glass.”

“He tried to steal something from a vending machine, what on earth for? Those toys are always really shitty… unless…”

“Unless?” Magnus peaked.

Angus opened his mouth to speak but before he could crack the case wide open Mr Grimmaldis burst into the office.

“What are you two doing here!”

Like a deer in headlights, Angus froze. And then like a baby in headlights, he began to cry.

“You two are in so much trouble, your kids’ll have detention,” he said. “After me.”

Despondently they followed Mr Grimmaldis storming down the hallway.

“Maybe Caleb Cleveland was wrong,” Angus said to Magnus. “Maybe searching for the truth isn’t the most important thing in the world. Not invading people’s privacy is way more important.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble,” Magnus said. “Besides, what was it you were going to say? What’s the case?”

“Oh well,” a fire immediately relit in the detective’s eyes. “Remember that ringtone he had, of My Little Pony? I’ve read stories about fans doing some wild things. Like paying hundreds of dollars for drawings of the characters. Or trying to legally marry one of them. I wouldn’t put it past a hardcore fan to break a vending machine for a limited edition stuffed toy.”

“So we find his stuffed pony and then that’s the case closed?”

“Well… I have a feeling that one definitely is at his home. But none of this explains how it involves Lup? Or her fifteen dollars… but there’s no way you’re convincing me to break any more rules. I’m in my last year Magnus. Oh, this is bad, this is really, really bad. Magnus I-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Magnus said, as they finally arrived at the principal’s office. “Let me speak to her first, here’s my plan…”

 

 

“So then I stuffed him in his locker, and I said _Detective Kid, you help me break into Grimmaldis’ office or I’ll… I’ll… I’ll punch ya._ And then the nerd kid did what I said.”

The principal of Neverwinter High was a sweet woman named Istus. She looked like a woman who had much better things to do with her time than listen to a teenager lie to her.

“So he had no choice in the matter. I forced him to do it,” Magnus said. He punched his own fist for emphasis. “I bullied him. It was all me.”

“Mhm… Mr Burnsides, our school has a zero-contact policy,” she began. “And your other... incidents with other students… have not been above my attention. But this violence of yours has gone on too long.”

“Please Istus… principal… ma’am. I’ll change. I won’t even look at anyone else in the hallway. I won’t talk to anyone. Please, I just want to pass the school year.”

“I’m not going to expel you. I want to help you, after all that’s what teachers are meant to do. There’s a new program our school about to start called _High Initiatives_.” She slid him a pamphlet. Magnus looked at the glossy paper. Staring back was a smiling teenage orc boy posing with a shovel and hardhat.

“Isn’t it a bit racist to assume that an orc boy is the trouble maker?” Magnus said. He immediately cursed himself for the sass, but Istus just smiled.

“Cheesy pamphlets aside, I am hoping this will be your turn around. Many of your _friends_ whom you’ve had… _encounters_ with have already signed up.”

Usually pamphlets don’t change your life, but Magnus would later learn that through one simple piece of paper, Principal Istus had shaped his destiny.  


  
“So you gotta like, build stuff?” Merle asked.  
“Yeah!” said Magnus with a beaming smile on his face.  
“That stinks,” said Merle.  
“No it doesn’t,” Magnus said, holding the pamphlet defensively.  
“Uh yeah it does. You can’t just do your homework with your detention time, you need to do physical labour every week. And THEN go home and do the homework anyway! That’s a lose-lose situation you found yourself in bud.”  
“Plus,” Taako said, “This whole student carpentry movement is just a scam so they don’t need to pay real builders for school renovation”  
“N-no. Well, yeah, maybe. But I’m still excited to do it.”  
“And that’s all that matters,” said Lucretia sternly.  
“Yeah well. Enjoy that,” Merle said. “What did you even get in trouble for this time?”  
“Breaking into Grimmaldis’ office,” Magnus said.  
“OH NICE!” Taako said, holding up his hand.  
“No,” Magnus said, letting it hang.  
“I’ll toast to that,” said Merle, jumping and missing the high five. “Well, shit. Nothing’s working for me today huh? I gotta stay in at lunch tomorrow and Thursday to get extra English credit cause of the stupid egg. And, the shitty speech. And for saying ‘shitty’ during the speech.”

 

 

Magnus and Lucretia walked side by side down the street. Even from a block away the thumping music drifted from the twins’ house into the twilight night. The loud music, bustling atmosphere and promise of wild activities made Magnus’ heart race with excitement, and Lucretia’s head pre-emptively ache for the exact same reasons.

The house was so full that the front yard was crowded and as the pair weaved their way to the obscured front door. It was a little surreal, needing to squeeze past dozens of strangers to get entry into the house of their oldest friend.

“I’m headed to the kitchen,” Magnus said, and Lucretia marvelled at how such a large man could disappear into a crowd so easily.

She stood alone for a moment, surrounded by people she too did not recognise. Looking around it took her several minutes to find Barry Bluejeans, standing with a red solo cup in his hand.

“My girlfriend’s party and I haven’t seen her all night,” he said. “Gosh she has like 20 times more friends than I’ve had in my whole lifetime.”

“I have a feeling she doesn’t know, and certainly isn’t friends with, a majority of these people.”

“Oh, I recognise her, that’s Carey. Oh and No-elle, right? They’re in Lup’s cheer squad.”

Lucretia hummed in confirmation.

“Oh and that’s-” Barry was cut off as a crowd of middle schoolers ran past him, following one Angus McDonald. They made a beeline for the sound system in the living room. There was a moment of silence, where all the partying dancers paused, and then the theme song to the Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop TV show blasted out. Surprisingly, along with the Caleb Cleveland Cult, most of the people present also knew the lyrics, singing along and doing a silly dance to the children’s TV show theme.

“Turnt,” said Lucretia completely deadpan.

Barry took a long sip from his cup. “Let’s try to find Lup.”

“Yes, let’s,” she agreed.

 

 

In the kitchen Magnus found food, which meant his minimum requirement for a party was filled, and he found alcohol, which meant his expectations were exceeded. He downed a shot before stuffing his face with finger food. It was after his second shot, when he was cracking open a beer that he, through some miracle, spotted Davenport in the crowd despite him being half the height of his surroundings.

“Hey Davenport, over here! It’s Magnus!” his voice boomed over the sound of… was that the Caleb Cleveland theme song on repeat? Davenport heard Magnus’ voice rather easily and came over. Magnus was drinking alcohol, and this seemed like a good social cue to follow. He poured some punch into a shot glass, completely oblivious to the miniscule alcohol content in such a drink, took one sip, and scrunched up his face.

“This is terrible,” Davenport signed. “I thought the twins were renowned chefs?”

“I don’t think Lup and Taako are responsible for this amalgamation of various alcohols,” Magnus said with a shrug.

“I think there may be a few potions from the various magical students in here,” Davenport signed. Magnus regarded the liquid, bright green, the colour of cartoon radioactive materials.

“Or chemistry students,” he said.

Davenport replaced the drink with two handfuls of Cheetos instead.

“Come-on, let’s go out there,” Magnus said, tugging at his arm, leading him through the glass sliding doors.

Outside, the music dimmed in volume, and they could hear a muffled voice vibrating throughout the yard. Magnus and Davenport followed this sound source. The backyard had clusters of people standing around the perimeter of the inground pool, which itself was lit up by submerged multi-coloured cantrips. Lup and Taako were standing on a small stage surrounded by speakers. They were wearing matching red outfits, clearly adoring being the stars of their own show.

Magnus and Davenport stood besides Lucretia and Barry to watch the stage.

Lup was speaking into the microphone sharing an embarrassing story about Taako’s youth. It was one Magnus knew well; about him accidently turning the local park’s swing set into a pile of slime. The crowd ate it up, but Magnus knew better. He knew that the twins were too proud to share actual embarrassing stories with strangers. He knew that they had pre-rehearsed everything said on that stage tonight. He knew that when Taako hid his face in his hands, it was for dramatic effect, and he ensured his eyeliner wasn’t smudged during the gesture. He knew this whole performance was just that, a performance.

In the middle of her performance Lup made a special call out, “To my smokin’ babe, Barry!” and as eyes turned, Barry slunk into his jacket wishing he were a tortoise in a shell, in order to hide from the immense discomfort brought by the quantity of attention. “He’s a little shy, lets show him some love.” And there was a cheer amongst the audience. Barry tried a polite smile. Lucretia put a hand on his shoulder. Under Lucretia’s calming touch, Barry’s body continued to tremble.

Thankfully, Taako took over the microphone, beginning his own birthday speech.

The crowd went wild when Taako held up his phone for the ultimate group selfie, and everyone squeezed in, desperate to be on the Instagram of Taako from TV.

Davenport hadn’t even noticed Magnus’ absence until he slipped back to his side, dual wielding red cups of mystery punch.

“You’re going to regret that,” Lucretia said.

“Maybe so,” Magnus said. He took a deep breath and downed a cup in one go.

“Barry, what do you want to do?” Lucretia asked.

He had only just found Lup, but he watched her weave between groups of people. She joyfully fluttered in and out of conversations and he finally understood the idea of a social butterfly. The last thing he wanted to do was dampen her mood or slow her down.

“Lets… just sit by the pool?”

“Sure,” Lucretia said. She linked arms with Barry, sticking together for strength, easily disappearing into the crowd.

“Jump scare!”

Magnus spilt a portion of his drink. “Holy shit!”

“Ha, got you!” Merle said, slipping between Magnus and Davenport. “You used to do that all the time when we were kids. It was so annoying. It’s nice to finally get back at you.”

“You didn’t… I totally knew you were there,” Magnus lied.

“It’s all that alcohol, you’re a lightweight,” Merle said. In his hands was a glass bottle of beer, half empty and presumably not his first.

“Pshhh, I could drink you under a table old man,” Magnus said.

“I’m only one week older than you. And no way you can out-drink me. I’ve got that dwarven blood. We’re biologically enhanced to handle alcohol.”

“That myth has been busted so many times,” Magnus said. “But you know what? You got yourself a challenge.”

 

 

“Damn Taako your date is lookin’ sharp,” Lup said, finding a quiet moment to spare with her brother.

“Of course he does, he’s _my_ boyfriend. See, he’s dressed to specifically look _amazing_ yet nowhere near undermining my look as the official best outfit.”

“Ahem,” Lup said, putting a hand on her hip and pointing to her red sparking GoGo boots.

“Official best suit, how about that?” Taako said.

“Acceptable.”

“And what about your date, Lup? I’m glad he isn’t living up to his name. Black jeans look much better on him, although I think right now he should be called Barry absent-jeans.”

“He’s bound to be somewhere,” Lup said, a little taken aback by Taako’s judgement. “He’s just a little shy is all.”

They stood together for a moment, took one breath and recollected their strength. This was when Lup and Taako were at their peak. Hosting an event about _themselves_. Ideal.

“Taako, Taako, can I play my mixtape?” Taako turned, confronted by a new group of people from school. Jeremy Fangbattle, a dragonborn who called himself Scales, but was better known as Carey’s brother, was waving a home-made CD with terrible cover art drawn in sharpie in front of his face. With him, Tanzer Silverview known for being that one kid with a rich family, and Lucian who was known as “Buttwatcher” for sneaking into the girls’ locker rooms. Really none of the trio had any redeeming qualities and the last thing Taako wanted was Scales’ music playing at his party.

“I do not have a CD player,” Taako said.

“It’s okay I brought it on USB,” Scales said, pulling one from his pocket.

“I don’t have a… USB player either.”

“Well… I could just… do you have a guitar I could play it live?” Jeremy said, pointing to the stage and desperation rising in his voice.

“Terribly sorry but I have never even _seen_ a guitar before in my entire life,” Taako said. “Oh, but look over there, naked girls.”

All three of the boys turned their heads and Taako slipped away, quickly following after Lup. “I have never met a dumber bunch of horny idiots,” he muttered as he caught up. Across the yard he saw Merle and Magnus playing each other in a game of flip cup. “Scratch that.”

“Noted,” she said. “I’m going inside to wrestle the sound system from the Cleveland Cult and hopefully find my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend finding, that’s an excellent idea,” Taako said. He reached into his pocket pulling out his wand. Many spells had gone into the preparation of the party, but almost all of them were cantrips so he still had two slots remaining. He spent one now, casting locate object on Kravitz’s phone. He could of course, have just called the damn thing, but that was far less efficient, and nowhere near as dramatic.

The spell came into effect and Taako realised he could’ve just used his eyes to locate his boyfriend was he was seated simply on the other side of the pool.

He stared at Kravitz. It took a moment for one of Kravitz’s friends to spot him, and then nudge Kravitz. When he looked up Kravitz gave him a wide smile. Taako wiggled his eyebrows at him. Kravitz wiggled his back. Taako blew him a kiss. Kravitz caught it and sent him one in return. Then he waved for Taako to come over.

“And then he took a bite into it, skin on and all…” said this one girl Ren, who Taako recognised from the magic class they all shared.

“Ew,” said one boy Taako didn’t recognise.

“Yeah I know. And it makes the most awful noise. It’s kinda like, _cronch_.”

Kravitz giggled and Taako was enraptured by the sound. At the height of his laugh, Kravitz let out a snort. It was an unrestrained laugh, a genuine display of joy, ugly to a degree which made it downright beautiful.

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Kravitz said to him. “I know my laugh is terrible.”

“No, no, it’s not that,” Taako said. Kravitz looked unconvinced. “I swear. It’s just that…” he looked around at this group of mostly strangers. None of them were his inner circle, and this was his backyard during a party not some Zone of Truth in the woods. Everything screamed at him to shut up but instead he said, “I just can’t remember the last time I laughed like that. So freely. At least, not in front of people besides Lup. The performance is great, I love it but…”

“It’s exhausting?” Ren said.

“It’s restrictive,” Taako said.

Kravitz leaned into Taako’s side, warming his skin against the cold February air.

“Oh no, I know what video you’re talking about,” said the distinctive, delightful, youthful voice of Angus McDonald. A smaller than usual gathering of his Kid Cop Cult was with him, and they sat down joining into the discussion. “Please, that sound is the worst thing I’ve heard since listening to my Grandpa tell me about his Flat Earth theories.”

“Flat Earth theories, that’s nothing. You should hear my mom’s _the earth isn’t real_ theory,” said one stranger.

“Excuse me, but what the fuck does that even mean?” Taako asked.

“I wish I knew,” she said. “But after her explaining it to me over a three hour long, very awkward lunch, I still am none the wiser.”

“That’s pretty bad, but Kravitz told me once that he still believes Elvis is alive,” said Ren.

Taako turned to Kravitz. “Babe, I’m sorry but what the ever-loving fuck?”

Kravitz sank into his shoulders as all eyes turned on him. “There’s just a lot of evidence to support that his death was faked.”

“Like _what_?!” Taako asked.

“Like… his name being spelt wrong on his tombstone. And the black helicopter at the time of his death. Also, all the repeated sightings of him. Like in public and on film.”

“He’s _Elvis_ , not a cryptid,” Taako said, shaking his head. “Fine, fine whatever. But _why_ would a man as loved as him want to fake his own death?”

“He was wanted by a criminal gang so he faked it to protect them.”

“Oh that one I’ve heard,” said Angus. Taako turned wide-eyed to him. “What! I’ve only _heard_ it, I don’t actually _believe_ it!”

Taako’s face shifted from shock to playful. “Are you calling my boyfriend a liar?”

“No, I’m just saying he’s tragically misinformed and maybe a little delusional.”

“That’s it,” Taako sprang to his feet. The boy detective did too. “You apologise to my off-the-deep-end bonkers boyfriend right now, mister.”

Angus giggled and broke into a run. Taako chased him, following him into the chaos that was the inside house party. A moment later the Kid Cop Cult members looked amongst themselves before following the chase.

 

 

The past twenty minutes had been a blur for Magnus. Or… had that been the past 30? Maybe it had only been 5 seconds of blur which felt like an eternity. He was having these thoughts while being in a very hazy conversation with Kravitz. He processed words coming in, and he wasn’t certain, but his replies seemed legible. He could barely hear them and began speaking louder and louder. Kravitz patted his shoulder and then he was gone. It took a moment for Magnus to realise that Kravitz had taken his drink from his hands. Damn, that boy was smooth.

Merle was laughing; at what however, only Pan knows. The world was spinning and standing was fine but the concept of walking seemed so much more complicated than it usually did. He sat down. Surely the tiles beneath him would be cold, but his fingers had long gone numb.

“What’re you doin’ down there, Magnus?” Merle asked, only a few inches taller than a sitting Magnus.

“Sitting,” Magnus said. He looked into the pool beside him. The surface wavered, the vibrations of the music upsetting their balance. He looked deeper, into the water where colours danced back up at him.

“The twins put fairy light enchantments in the water, how cool is that?” Magnus said reaching out and grabbing the leg of… “Killian!”

With her was No-elle and Carey. “Yeah, it sure is cool,” Killian said.

“I want to jump into the pool,” he said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea big guy.”

“I think it’d be much safer for you to slowly climb in,” No-elle said. Magnus was momentarily hypnotised by a spinning light on her monitor. “Or perhaps in your state you shouldn’t jump in at all.”

“I want to jump,” Magnus said, snapping awake and swiftly rising to his feet. He ripped his shirt off. “I want to jump!”

“That is far more Magnus chest than I ever wanted to see,” Carey said.

“I WANT TO JUMP!” he shouted. There was a cheer from around him, most notably Merle who let out a raucous wolf-whistle. Magnus threw the shirt into the pool, then took several paces back. “I’M GOING TO JUMP!”

This time there was an even greater cheer and several people backed away from the pool. The rest of the world was a blur, but ahead of him was a runway, at the end a pool, and an epic feat. He ran. The screams of friends and strangers acting as his peer pressure. He leapt into the air, his last dry thought being, _‘… or pier pressure…’_ before plunging into the water. Under the surface time moved slower as his body sank deeper, passing the colourful fairy light enchantments, and above him the dark sky was filled with the shapes of more and more bodies jumping into the water.

He waited a long, muffled moment, before kicking his way to air again. After a deep breath he looked around at the pool, now filled with other teenagers most of which were also slightly drunk enough to tolerate the freezing weather.  Across the water he saw Kravitz looking downright horrified. It was far too loud to hear what he was saying, and Magnus swam closer.

“Magnus are you alright?” he asked.

“Never better,” he said, beaming ear to ear as droplets rained from his hair down his face.

“You…” he sighed. Under his breath he said, “I swear you all have a death wish.”

 

 

The sound of 30 people screaming as they jumped into a pool was enough to make Barry and Lucretia retreat, but unfortunately the inside was far louder than outside. To make it to the staircase, they had to pass a violent obstacle course of people dancing wildly. By the time they had passed the gauntlet without a hit, Barry was convinced they could both become Ninja Warrior contestants.

Upstairs was somewhat quieter, with small groups of people scattered about the rooms, neither of them recognised but presumably from their school. They passed the bathroom, the distinct sound of a girl crying coming from within. Two separate couples were making out on Lup’s bed and a group of people were ransacking Taako’s room, gushing over various clothes he had worn in different Instagram posts. Amongst them was Davenport, doing a silent giggle which was distinctive only to his friends.

“Hello Davenport,” Lucretia said.

He waved them over to Taako’s desk, presenting a polaroid he had in his hands. Barry lifted his glasses, taking the polaroid to adjust the distance so he could look at it. It was a photo of the twins, specifically of Lup with a spell wand focusing a levitation charm on a handbag which Taako was jumping up trying to catch.

“They really haven’t changed,” Lucretia said.

“Besides getting worse tastes in birthday parties,” Davenport signed.

“Do you remember the X-Files marathon we did when they turned 12?” Lucretia said.

“That was fun,” Davenport signed back. “I miss that.”

Barry put the photo back on the desk, his eye catching what looked like mathematical calculations. He eyed them over, recognising them as spell crystal channelling rates. It reminded him of an assignment for his magic class he had due in two days. Honestly, he wasn’t too worried about the assignment but there was one question he hadn’t quite figured out and not knowing something was a very upsetting thing for him. He was Barry Bluejeans, knowing maths and magical properties was, like, the thing he was meant to be good at.

He picked up the papers, briefly looking over them. Lucretia peered over his shoulder. “Is this for homework?”

“It doesn’t look like our magic assignment…” Barry said. “Maybe it’s a personal project?”

“Impossible, the real Taako would never do maths for fun,” Davenport signed. “Listen, I don’t want to be a downer, but I’d rather be literally anywhere else right now.”

“Big mood. I’ve only been here for two hours but I already want to leave,” Lucretia agreed, putting the papers down.

“Do you want to like, actually leave?” Davenport signed back.

“Yes,” Lucretia said. “I actually think I wanted to leave the moment I arrived.”

“Zone of Truth?”

“Zone of Truth,” she agreed.

Barry scratched the back of his neck. “I… uh… should probably stay. Seeing as it’s Lup’s birthday and all.”

Davenport stood and gave him a salute.

 

 

“Magnus haven’t you had enough?” asked Carey walking into the upstairs bathroom, looking down at her friend who was hugging a bottle of wine with one arm and the seat of the toilet with the other.

“If I stop drinking then my body is going to notice the alcohol and then it’ll start a revolution in my stomach,” Magnus said.

“Logical,” Taako said. A moment passed before Magnus hurled into the bowl. “Gross… just make sure you don’t miss,” Taako said. “I’m not cleaning up vomit at my own birthday party.”

“Aren’t you going to help him?” Carey asked.

“Help what? He’s balls to the walls drunk, my dude. The only thing which can sober him up is time.”

“Go get him some water you useless twink,” she said.

“Homophobia,” Taako said.

“I’m a lesbian.”

From the bowl Magnus shouted, “A _liz-_ bian.”

“Yes, you already told me that one honey,” she said.

“Besides, I’m a twunk,” Taako said.

“No, you’re not,” Carey said.

“No, you’re not,” Magnus said from inside the bowl.

“No, I’m not,” Taako agreed, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the party. Listen, I’m leaving the job of caring for Magnus to a much more competent woman,” he said, ducking out of the door.

“Bitch,” Carey said.

 

 

“I think I shook Taako. Now what was it you wanted help with?” Angus asked still red cheeked and panting.

“Hang on let me write it down,” Barry said. He cursed how messy the kitchen had become as he frantically searched for a spare piece of paper. He ended up grabbing one of Lup’s aunt’s cookbooks and flipping to a blank page at the back.

“Okay, so if we take into account the refraction of the amethyst,” he said jotting down some notes. Angus eagerly followed his work. “And then substitute that constant in the equation, see the energy output is greater than if it was a pure diamond, which can’t be right because pure diamonds are meant to channel magical energy better than a quartz would.”

“Yes, but that’s only in standard conditions,” Angus said. “The assignment specifically states that the experiment takes place in a higher altitude so the difference in pressure means evocation spells are already overcharged. So yes, if it was a diamond it would be an even higher output, but in this case an amethyst will output an energy greater than standard.”

“Oh of course,” Barry said. “It’s so obvious now. How did I miss that?”

“Happy to help,” said Angus. A swarm of his friends came along, and he shouted a farewell as he was swiftly swept out of sight, like a rowboat in a stormy sea.

Barry eyed over the equation, his mind racing with his new hint. He was really confident he could finish the assignment now. “I’m looking for one Angus McDonald,” said Taako, shocking him from his work. “About this tall” – he held his hand up to his hips – “giant round glasses, probably an evil dragon in disguise plotting to take over the world.”

“Sorry, haven’t seen him,” Barry said.

Taako snatched the cookbook, looking it over briefly. “No, it’s just Barold J Bluejeans doing homework at my birthday party, of course.” He tossed the book over his shoulder, and then his cat-like gaze shifted to the dance party in his living room. There was a large pyramid formed by the cheerleaders. And then a loud thump as Killian fell from the top, landing hard on the carpet. After a moment, she burst out laughing.

“I wish I was an orc,” Barry said. Taako slowly frowned. “I hear they have tougher skin and bones. I once tripped over my shoelaces and broke my wrist.”

Taako patted him on the back. It was condescending to say the least but honestly, he deserved it. “Why aren’t you hanging out with the other quiet ones?”

“They left for the Zone of Truth,” he said. Taako clapped his back once more.

“Ah stuck it out like a true champion.”

“That’s me, a fighter,” Barry said.

 

 

Carey had sat with Magnus for a while, eventually being joined by No-Elle and Killian who was holding an icepack to her forehead. They chatted while Magnus moaned in fear and pain at the phenomenon of being way, way, way, way, way too drunk to comprehend the passage of time.

Eventually he trusted himself to leave the bowl of the toilet, cautiously brushing his teeth with his finger and rinsing his mouth a million times, trying to cleanse the taste of whatever had come out from his stomach.

A passing Kravitz watched the scene, before volunteering to take over babysitting duty from the over-worked girls.

“Come on, follow me big guy,” Kravitz said taking Magnus’ arm.

“Your skin is so soft,” Magnus said, his fingers running along Kravitz’ forearm. The spooky boy tried and failed to not giggle, the touch was as ticklish as it was hilarious.

“Thank you, the secret is coconut oil,” Kravitz said scanning the hallway. Many people they passed recognised Kravitz, saying hello, and one girl ran up and took him by the hand.

“Krav! Come play truth or dare with us. Come on, come on, come on!” she said tugging him hard.

“Sure,” Kravitz said. They joined a cluster of people crowded in Taako’s room, including Lup who bounced with joy upon their arrival. Magnus swayed where he stood.

“He’s smashed, isn’t he?” Lup asked.

“Yes,” Kravitz said.

“Here put him on the bed,” Lup said.

Very slowly Magnus sat on the bed, and then a minute later, dared to lie down on his side.

“Everything is spinning,” he said, for the third time in ten minutes.

“Yes, darling I know, drinking is scary,” Lup said, patting his arm.

“I want to die,” he moaned.

“Don’t mind him,” Lup said. “Okay handsome, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Kravitz said sitting down on the carpet.

“How insufferable is it dating my brother?” she asked.

“Hmm, its more surprising than insufferable. He has many strange quirks like how he likes to wear a giant wizard hat whenever he does his homework. But his quirks are either sensible when explained or they’re really adorable. Honestly, many things my boyfriend does is adorable.”

“Oh, same hat,” said Lup. “But like, with Barry. Nothing Taako does is adorable. Except for that one time he dressed as a corn for Halloween. I have a photo somewhere but I’m not showing anyone because I am also dressed as a corn. Anyway, Krav it’s your turn.”

“Okay truth or dare, Lup?”

“Dare.”

“Show us the corn photo.”

“Fuck.”

 

 

_Drinking_

_-Higher body temperature_

_-Act impulsively – more correct representation of who people really are? Or are we defined by the limits we put on ourselves?_

_-Kissing in public v kissing in a private room, introvert v extrovert? – Parental rules influence?_

_-Magnus jumping in a pool -alcohol, stress of returning to school + punishment + detention_

_Subnote: Magnus seems to be liking his detention? Still it takes time from his friends? Magnus, as much of a mystery as ever._

_-Taako, secret project, transmutation, for play? For fun – unlikely. For Instagram? More of a mystery than Magnus? Are all people mysteries?_

 

“Impressive,” Davenport said, passing the journal back to Lucretia.

“Any important observations from the party you think I should add?” she asked.

“I don’t know… the dancing was pretty terrible?”

“That can go under the alcohol subheading,” she said, scribbling a quick note. She looked at her book, running her fingers along the page.

“Why do you do this? Write all these journals?” he asked.

“They started as diaries, but I got too embarrassed when I read over them. Reading about my own feelings and whatnot. But the whole point of my diaries was so I could remember things. Remember trends and fads and music and people when years later my mind had forgotten. So, I started writing down things I liked about other people. Jokes they would tell that I didn’t want to forget, or shows they recommended. I ended up writing down everything. I have so many of these journals at home. After school when I get home I spend twenty minutes writing about my day without writing a single word about myself.”

“Well, if you’d let me, can I?” he asked, reaching his hands out.

She was hesitant for a moment before passing the book over. If anything, whatever he wrote could count as a collection of data on Davenport.

He wrote each word very thoughtfully, and after a few minutes he passed the book back.

_Lucretia. One of those young women who could probably take over the world if she wanted to. She sees beauty in everyone, documenting their successes and their flaws, but relabelling flaws as character traits. Beautiful inside and out. A lonely journal keeper, pretending to be an outsider, when she is loved by all._

“Pretending to be an outsider,” she said. “I… I suppose that is accurate. I feel like an outsider a lot. I miss jokes, I don’t understand references, I don’t get invited to places, and when I do I avoid them or leave early to go to a treehouse. Do you ever get that feeling… That you’re like… not being a teenager correctly?”

“I can’t talk at school,” Davenport said. “It’s been a very long time since I felt normal.”

She flipped her book back a page. “Like, you’re not doing what everyone else is. Like I’m acting, or following everyone else’s steps trying to pretend to know the dance. Know how to fit in. And how come every teen story has a part where they smoke weed? I don’t want to smoke weed. And going on road trips? Who’s going to drive? Where are we meant to get the money? Where’s my summertime romance? I realised a long time ago there’s too much pressure on teenagers to be like in the movies. So what I just want to read books. And I don’t want to go to loud parties or make out with boys I just met. Why are our lives so romanticised? We’re just oily, sweaty idiots.”

“Or, do you ever feel like you’re running out of time. Wasting your young years _._ Like… what’s the rush? My young years suck. I have to go to school for five out of seven days and the last two I’m stuck doing homework or catching up on sleep.”

 “Feeling like shit is just a part of being a teenager. Maybe Taako and Lup feel lonely. Hell, maybe feeling lonely it’s a part of being a _person_. Growing up, it’s hard and nobody understands. But maybe you never stop growing up. Maybe it’s all just tough and maybe it’s all just lonely no matter how many friends you make or how much help you get along the way or how many people you date. Maybe we’re just doomed to always feel alone.”

 

 

“Magnus truth or dare?” Lydia asked.

“The ceiling hasn’t stopped spinning,” Magnus said. “Dear fucking god I wish the ceiling would stop spinning.”

“Put your break-down aside, what do you chose?” Lydia prompted.

“Truth,” he said. “I can’t physically move right now.”

“How did you get the scar?”

A million fake reasons sprang to his mind. They came to him more easily than the real reason, a traumatic event which struggled to form shape in his memory. But in his inebriated state, he was certain his fake stories would be even more nonsensical than usual.

“A windshield,” he said. “Okay Kravitz truth-”

“That wasn’t an answer,” Lydia whinged. “Sass really isn’t your strong suit. Tell you what, you and me should workshop it. We’ll catch up sometime. I can teach you sass and you can teach me… you can teach me…” she tapped her chin in thought. “I can teach you _sass_ …” she started over again.

“Fine then. I got it because my face collided with a windshield at a very high velocity when my dad crashed his car. Is that the answer you wanted?”

She froze for a moment, and then recollected herself. “Yes. That is the point of the game after all,” she said defensively.

“Yeah it’s a real bummer hearing about a car crash why do you think I don’t ever fucking talk about it? Great, okay now that that’s over, Kravitz, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” he said.

“What’s your secret to being so cool and popular?”

“Having a fake British accent has worked for me so far,” he said. “Okay, Hurley truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she said.

“I dare you to send Sloane a message saying that you absolutely hate ravens.”

“Okay,” she said, pulling out her phone. A minute later it pinged back and she read, _“That’s okay I love you and you’re entitled to your incorrect opinion. Ravens are fucking rad.”_

“She’s right,” Kravitz said. “Ravens _are_ fucking rad.”

“Okay Lydia, truth or dare?” Hurley asked.

“Truth,” she said.

“Hmm… Why are you majoring in necromancy for your final year?”

“I’m good at it, bitch,” Lydia said. Her eyes flickered to Magnus, a pang of guilt possibly betraying her stature. “And because… me and Edward used to study it at home. When our baby brother got sick we both wanted to… I don’t know… ensure we wouldn’t lose him? It turns out necromancy is really fucking hard. Luckily, we got counselling before we tried anything disturbing. But, well, when they began teaching the fundamentals in high school I realised I already knew most of it. So, I may as well do what I’m best at for my final year, get those high grades.”

“That’s fucking sweet,” Magnus said. “Like really fucking sweet. You’re still a bitch though.”

“Trust me, I’ve always been a bitch. Way before Taako, and way before Keats.”

 

 

The night wore on slowly, and while hosting was Taako’s favourite thing in the world, by two am he could feel the energy drained from him. Most of the party had either left or passed out somewhere about the place. Leaving the bathroom, he stepped over a kitten pile of sleeping football jocks and made his way to the top of the staircase. There he sat and peered down into the longue room below. Far from the bustling dance party it had been earlier, now it was almost whisper quiet. Team Sweet Flips were all passed out on the couches. On one arm chair it looked like Lup was trying to eat the face off Barry Bluejeans. Angus and a much smaller collection of his friends than usual were sat in a circle playing a card game.

Gross PDA aside, he was genuinely happy for his sister. Around Barry she was in her element, and so incredibly madly in love. The certainty and freedom with which she shared happiness and un-restrained joy was something he had always admired about her. Her happiness was infectious which is why he was already beaming a grin when he saw Kravitz at the bottom of the stairs. His button-down shirt was devilishly handsome, and even though his eyes were tired, they glittered with immense warmth.

Taako stood and struck a pose against the wall, one hand in the air and another on his thigh.

Kravitz watched Taako dreamily, attempted to lean against the staircase railing, and missed. He slipped, but quickly caught himself. He too posed, trying to play it cool, but Taako was already giggling and racing down the stairs. From the last step he jumped into Kravitz’s arms and Kravitz spun him around.

“Come on,” Kravitz said leading him into the living room. On the speakers a slow song played, barely audible but loud enough as they climbed onto the coffee table and began to slow-dance as the night crept on.

 

 

When Magnus woke up everything was still. For a moment. He blinked. He blinked again. And then he tried to sit up. He froze, holding onto his stomach, and through pure will power he kept himself from throwing up more. Beside him Taako and Kravitz were asleep in the bed, fully dressed in their party clothes. Magnus was only in his boxer shorts, and there was a towel around his shoulders.

He remembered everything, strangely enough. He remembered the drinking game, the pool, he remembered the girls looking after him. Fuck, he felt awful about that. He’d have to take them all out for ice-cream in gratitude… wait do robots eat ice-cream? They’d never really settled that question.

He laid back down. The roof was finally no longer spinning, and he decided he never, ever wanted to be that drunk again. Drinking was fun, but too much was just downright scary. It wasn’t an experience, it was a nightmare.

It was a mistake.

At some point in the early morning hours, Kravitz rolled over and wrapped an arm around him. Why was this boy’s skin so damn smooth? But also, why was he so fucking cold? Luckily Magnus was basically a furnace and together they maintained a temperature equilibrium.

Eventually he grew bored, and cautiously he slipped out of the bed. Standing up was hard. Walking was also hard. Drinking too much had been a mistake, he told himself again.

Quietly he pried open the doors to Taako’s dresser, finding a large furry coat he already knew was waiting inside.

This was his morning outfit as he made his way downstairs, taking it one wobbly step at a time.

In the kitchen he saw empty bottles strewn about the place and just the very thought of alcohol made him queasy. Instead he ran the tap, chugging as much water as he could. The thought of food also made him queasy, but he thinks he had read it somewhere or something that food was good for hangovers? He really had no idea. Was this even a hang over? His head didn’t hurt, his whole body just felt like all of his bones had disintegrated into a paste.

He grabbed a piece of bread and went outside. The fresh air filling his lungs. He sat by the pool, dipping his feet into the water, slowly nibbling the singular piece of bread.

“Are you proud of me Dad?” he asked. “Momma?”

The ripples made by his feet slowly died out until his reflection stared back. Messy hair, a scar, plenty of acne. Above him a grey winter sky.

Outsiders thought it was always sunny in Neverwinter, but that was because they rarely stuck around to see the rain.

 

 

“Hey nerds, gather round,” Taako said, calling his group to a huddle. “Okay so the play is next week, and we’re all super psyched, but I wanted to make sure you’re all as excited as you’re supposed to be.”

“You’re the lead, what could be more exciting than that?” Magnus said.

“What could be more exciting than that, that we are not going to regret experiencing,” Barry added with caution.

“This!” Taako said, withdrawing a stone from his school bag. “I’ve been working in it for _months._ It’s going to be what makes me a legend at this school.”

“What is it?” Magnus asked, taking the stone from him. He regarded its unnatural shimmer before passing it to Lup.

“It’s an enchantment stone,” Taako said.

“Correction,” said Lup as she examined it. “It’s _my_ enchantment stone.”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Taako waved her off.

“Well, it looks pretty,” Magnus said.

“And I’m guessing it will be very impressive,” Lucretia said.

“Oh darling, it’s going to be a showstopper.”

 

“So, Magnus I’m sorry but _A List of Reasons why Dogs Should be Able To Vote_ just isn’t an acceptable science project,” Mr Miller said flipping through the report. “We expect better work in your eleventh year.”

“But sir, if you think about it, it’s kind of like a psychology project which, if you’re a good person you would know, is a totally a legitimate science.”

“Magnus, I’m not sure you know what psychology is?” he looked up at Magnus. He wore giant glasses and for some reason he was always wearing his lab coat, even in his office, apparently.

“So, what can I do to make up for failing?” Magnus asked.

“I… It’s nearly the end of the third semester Magnus. There’s not enough time for you to make it up. Your lunchtimes are already full due to the High Initiatives Program.”

“So, I’m going to fail science?”

“Unless you get very impressive scores at the end of the year, I’m afraid so.”

Magnus stared blankly at the papers on the desk. Behind him, a large clock ticked away. Only two years ago he had been the star student. A quarterback excelling at his classes. He had heard of falls from grace, but he was Magnus Burnsides. He didn’t do grace, but apparently he did falling quite well.

“I’m sorry Mr Burnsides.”

Magnus was speechless. He picked up his school bag, left the room and the door slammed shut in his wake. Fuck, that probably wasn’t the right thing to do. Neither was meeting Mr Miller after class apparently, because there was nothing he could do to save his grade. That assignment hadn’t been the right thing to do. Why did he even enrol in science anyway? He should’ve just done cooking. Or magic. Fuck it, coming back to school was a mistake. What had he done? Given people gossip. Nearly gotten Angus expelled. Beaten up some kids who were probably already being beaten up at home.

And he’d just be back here next year, maybe two more at this rate.

The hallways were completely empty. The urge to tip over every bin he passed was an impulse he supressed. He was better than that. The janitors didn’t deserve that.

“What did Mr Miller say?” asked Merle, the only one of his friends who had waited behind after school. The only one with nothing better to do.

“I failed. And he said High Initiatives takes up too much fucking time already, so I can’t make up for it. I had honestly forgotten that building program was meant to be like detention. I’ve kind of been enjoying it.”

“Yeah you trouble makers built the Green Club a new garden. We’re thrilled,” Merle said.

“Excited to have some dirt boxes outside,” Magnus said.

“I’m serious. Just in time for spring next semester too. Thanks Magnus.”

Magnus’ scowl softened. “Well… Then I’m glad… you’re welcome.”

 

 

The play was of no concern to Taako. Performing was a breeze, as easy as breathing. It was the showstopper which he had been worrying about ever since the stage lights had come on.

Lydia belted out the final note of the eleven-o’clock number, a beautiful song fittingly titled ‘The Eleventh Hour’.

Taako closed his eyes for a moment, took a breath, the nervous shudders of which were so subtle even he didn’t notice them as they passed his lips. “Okay hot stuff,” he said ever-so-silently to himself. “Let’s do this fucking thing.”

He smashed the stone against his chest in one swift motion, and instantly it exploded in a burst of flame. “SHIT!” he shouted, dropping the burning hot stone to the ground, where it exploded. The audience of parents and students gasped.

“What the hell!” Lydia screamed.

As Taako patted flames from his chest, the audience was silent. The stage was silent. As Taako’s flames died down, slowly all eyes fell to the magic stone sitting centre stage.

“It wasn’t meant to do that!” Taako said.

A moment later the stone rattled. It rattled again, like an egg about to hatch. Then it began to levitate into the air.

“It’s definitely not meant to do that…”

“Taako duck!” shouted Lup. Instinctively, he listened to his sister, ducking as the prop pinboard behind him flew past his head and stuck to the stone. Then, more and more props from around the stage began flying towards the stone. A hat was ripped from the head of a lady in the front row, joining the cluster of props forming around the stone.

“No, no, no! That’s not how it’s meant to work at all!” Taako shouted, pulling at his hair. Lydia had already begun running off stage, her costume’s jewellery being sucked off of her and flying centre stage.

“This is not part of the show!” Mr Grimmaldis said standing up.

“Uh should we like, evacuate the building?” asked Johann.

Mr Grimmaldis turned a sour face towards the stage where a floorboard began rattling loose of its screws. From the centre of the cluster, sparks of lightening began to strike the stage lights. A shatter of glass rained down on Taako, who shrieked.

“Yes, evacuate. EVACUATE!” shouted Mr Grimmaldis. There was a panic and a mad scramble as the audience made their exit. Instead of run Magnus, Merle, Lucretia, Lup, Davenport, Barry and Kravitz all made the difficult journey through the swarming parents, clambering over chairs and screaming children, towards the stage. Merle watched a stuffed Rainbow Dash toy fly from the prop’s cupboard into the magical cluster.

“Taako what the fuck did you do with that spell!” Lup shouted at her brother who was now covering on the stage.

“Nothing, it was a simple transmutation spell. Using the power of a wish combined with a material object, _my outfit,_ it was meant to turn my outfit into a suit of gold.”

“You used Lup’s stone, of course the dang thing exploded,” Lucretia said.

“That’s not important,” Barry said. “What do we do now?”

The initiative rolls went as follows:

Taako: 2

Magnus: 13

Merle: 4

Lucretia: 11

Lup: 9

Barry: 3

Davenport: 14

Kravitz: 6

Many Props: 7

Up first was Davenport. So rarely had he been given the chance to take charge in life, but this was one time when his friends were reliant on him. Sign language, a comfort to him beyond preference was simply not an option here. Despite his unfamiliarity with Kravitz, he needed to act, and he would deal with the emotional impact later. “We need to shut down that stone! It’s right behind that Wheel of Misfortune prop.” It was a mobilising command. It was leadership.

Magnus was next, who said, “I don’t know dick about magic, but consider that wheel gone!” he made a rush for the cluster, launching himself at the wheel and taking hold of it tightly. With all his might, he planted his feet and pulled, before the wheel was dislodged and with it still in hand he fell to the stage ground. “Success!” he said, ignoring the pain of hitting his whole spine against a hardwood floor.

“I’ll think I can stop the spell,” said Lucretia. She withdrew a wand from her suit jacket and pointed it in the general direction of the sparking stone. She calmed her mind, searching for silence in a world constantly riddled with noise and distractions. In her private domain, she searched for an answer amongst her bountiful arcane knowledge.

A spell bloomed forth from her wand and shot right at the enchantment stone.

The flashes of lightening stopped. The cluster hovered unmoving, no more props flying towards its pull.

“Did we do it?” asked Lup.

A moment later the cluster in the centre spun around slowly, and then began to rise. Everything was a blur, and then finally, a humanoid shape took form, its limbs made from mis-matched items.

“Maybe it’s friendly?” Magnus said. As he spoke, the beast turned to him and smashed its first down. Luckily, the star quarterback narrowly avoided the attack by leaping out of the way.

“Well, now what?” Merle asked.

“Now,” Lucretia said. “We fight.”

“Okay,” said Lup. With her turn, she cast Eldritch Blast at the beast. The spell was powerful, shattering one of its arms into a rain of props.

The monster went next, and with its still existing fist it swung down at Lup, who with her cheerleading prowess, effortlessly leapt out of the way to safety. As the fist collided with the stage, splinters of shattered wood soared into the air, lodging into the skin of some of the party. Less adept at gymnastics was Merle, who was nearly squashed to a pulp as the monster tried to step on him. Except Magnus who was a protection fighter, and he leapt into the way of the charge, tackling Merle to safety. The tackling, the adrenaline, fighting for his loved ones, Magnus felt some of that nostalgic football euphoria he had long missed. In the wake of the monster’s foot a hole right through the stage remained.

Up next was Kravitz, who had had enough time to spy the scene and work out what he was going to do. He ran around the stage, grabbing a half-buried prop stick. He pulled it from the broken stage, realising it was a foam scythe, and was very glad this was fitting to his goth aesthetic. He climbed atop a large speaker, and then leapt, swinging the scythe down on the beast and breaking off the other arm from its form.

Merle clambered up from underneath Magnus. He was determined to be a useful ally, not just a burden who put his friends’ lives at risk. But looking around him, he could only see splintered wood and tonnes of useless props. He needed to act fast. He detached his prosthetic arm and threw it at the monster, where it instantly sank into its form.

“Shit!” Merle said.

“That was really your first thought on how to lend a hand?” Lup said. “You couldn’t’ve helped us with these splinters?!”

“I don’t have time to grab tweezers and a Band-Aid!” Merle said.

With exasperated disbelief, Taako said, “You have _magic_!”

“You’re a terrible healer!” Magnus said.

“EAT ME!” Merle shouted back. 

Barry ignored his friend Merle being absolutely roasted, and instead withdrew his own enchantment stone. It had been his science project for several weeks. He had earned an A+ on it too. He was very proud. The teacher had examined it, and while too dangerous to test out on school grounds, Mr Jenkins had certified him that it would be a fully effective spell. Barry hurled the enchantment stone at the monster, but he was never very proficient at sports. It landed at the beast’s feet, where an icy case began to encapsulate its legs, immobilising it.

“Finally,” Taako said. “Time for me to finish this mess.”

He took Lup’s wand from her hands and ran through the immobilised legs of the monster. On its back, Taako could see the malfunctioning enchantment stone and aimed the wand at it.

Time to finish this mess.

“Looks like it’s… _props to Taako_ ,” he said.

A spell bloomed from the wand, striking the stone. The prop monster was still, and then there was a burst of light. It blinded them all, and when their sight returned there were props strewn everywhere all over the auditorium. Splinters of wood stuck up from holes all over the stage and a headless Rainbow Dash hung from the ceiling.

“I think this is redeemable,” said Merle, catching sight of his prosthetic arm amongst the wreckage.

The speaker which Kravitz had climbed earlier wobbled on its stand, before crashing to the ground.

 

 

“ _WHAT_ happened in there Taako?!” Mr Grimmaldis shouted as the group meandered outside. On the unlit football field, parents and students alike were gathered, uncertain of what they should be doing.

“I – uh – it – no – a whoopie – and – I – mistake-” the elf stammered a million words at once.

“We stopped the stone, sir, no need to worry about it,” said Barry.

“There should not have been any _stone_ in the first place!” Mr Grimmaldis shouted. Barry recoiled, unaccustomed to the reprimand of a teacher.

“It was my fault,” Magnus said, stepping forwards. “Taako’s an excellent wizard he’d never mess up a spell that important. I… I tampered with the stone. I thought it would be funny to ruin his big night and embarrass him in front of the school. It was only meant to be a harmless prank though.”

“Magnus what the fuck!” Taako screamed. He launched himself at Magnus, trying to attack the jock but his noodly arms barely tickled the tank of a boy.

“Why am I not surprised to hear you’re to blame, Mr Burnsides,” Mr Grimmaldis said. “Come with me.”

Magnus followed, looking behind briefly at his group of friends who stared at him in abhorrent disbelief.

 

 

“Hey, can I lend a hand?” Merle said, holding out his prosthetic arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Ruined! My play, my reputation, everything. Ruined!”

“Well, you said you wanted this play to be the thing you’re remembered by,” Merle said. “No, it’s unforgettable!”

Taako wailed into his hands.

“Good news then that only like a quarter of the school came tonight,” said Barry.

“Oh trust me, despite the running and screaming, plenty of people filmed that catastrophe,” Lup said. Taako wailed louder. “But hey, look at the bright side. At least your boyfriend was here to see it.”

Kravitz sat down besides Taako, wrapping an arm around him.

“You know this whole night I…” Taako began. “Ever since I got the part I’ve been looking forward to it. I wanted it to be _perfect_. But it’s been a bittersweet anticipation. Because Kravitz is going back home a million miles away in just a few weeks. I’ve been, looking at the calendar excited and afraid and now the play is ruined, so it’s all just… terrible.”

“You’ll still have me when I’m back home,” Kravitz said.

“That’s so sweet and so gay and so much more than a failure like me deserves,” Taako said.

“You’re not a failure,” Lup said, finally relenting from teasing her brother. “You’re far from it. You’re a showstopper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar  
> \- A bunch of friends go on camp
> 
>  
> 
> Very special thanks to Jasmyn for proofing my terrible spelling, go check out some of her writing here  
> https://incisorsgrinders.wordpress.com/amori-by-jasmyn-voss-2/
> 
> Also this is by far the longest chapter. The other two will (hopefully) come out much quicker, especially as university is now on a break.


	5. Spring Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the calendar  
> \- A bunch of friends go on camp

As sure as winter ends, spring is heralded by soothing warmth, the promise of growth and change, and a spring vacation.

Only an incessantly persuasive Lup could convince a group of teens to rise at the ludicrous hour of 7 am on a holiday; but sure enough they were all packed and standing at the bus stop together on time, weary yet excited.

They bustled onboard the shuttle which would take them from Neverwinter, on a 6-hour long trail drive up into The Teeth. The first hour of which Barry and Davenport worked on their homework until they grew car sick and Lucretia had to forcefully take their books away from them while they nursed their wheeziness.

Merle and Magnus spent the ride playing a dimwit’s version of eye-spy, as Magnus’ choices became more half-hearted and his guesses grew extremely stupid.

“Sss… sss… is it… a… sssssexy car?”

“No,” Merle said, a long whinge as he melted into his chair. “Come on its ssssss-uper easy.”

“Ssss… sssssssss… a cellphone?”

“That one’s _C,”_ Merle said.

Magnus huffed a laugh, before sinking his cheek further into the glass. The bus vibrated his brain deep within his skull, like a potentially dangerous massage. “Well then… I give up.”

“It’s the sky!” Merle said, throwing his hands into the air. “How could you not guess the sky! I give up on you,” He took out his headphones, about to place them over his ears.

“What is that?!” Lucretia shrieked. She reached into Merle’s bag retrieving a large circular device. “Is this a Walkman?”

“Yes,” he said.

“It’s _ancient,_ ” she said.

“I know. It’s _vintage,_ ” Merle said.

“It’s not vintage,” Taako said. “It’s just outdated and shitty.” He too was leaning against the glass of his seat. His hair was flat, and he hadn’t bothered changing out of pyjama pants, which was the same for most of the bus-goers, but for Taako, it was notably casual.

Merle clutched his Walkman to his chest defensively, and a lull fell over the group.

 

 

A park ranger who introduced himself as Duck Newton, guided the group along a trail through the woods. The loud teenagers seemed to result in a grimace plastered on his face and was probably part of the reason they were given a hefty lecture on the rules of the parkland. “You gotta keep your food locked away at all times. Raccoons getting a hold of your cookies is one thing, were-bears sniffing out your sausages is another.”

Magnus’ face lit up at the thought of were-bears, but something about Duck’s expression told him that meeting a were-bear would not be as cool in real life as it was in theory.

“And finally, any and all fires are to remain inside this pit,” he said pointing to a circle of rocks. “Each morning it is your responsibility to make sure it is put out. Even one smouldering ember can ruin this beautiful nature land.”

He eyed the group, doubtful that any of them even knew of the concept of responsibility.

“Don’t worry, I know how to contain a fire,” Lup said.

“Yes… well… best to put some water on the pit each morning just to be sure. Remember if there’s an emergency don’t be afraid to give us rangers a ring. Well… that’s it folks. Happy, and _sensible,_ camping,” he said in the tiresome stoic tone he had held since they first met. With a tip of his hat he waddled off back along the trail.

They had arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon, a small clearing surrounded by thick woods and a few soft trails they were heavily advised to stick to. Between the group of seven there were three tents. Lup and Barry calling shotgun together. There was a panicked, muffled conversation amongst the rest, no one wanting to also share a tent with them, but they as a collective afraid of what would happen if the two were left alone.

“Taako, you’re her sister, there’s no way she’d try anything with you around,” Merle said.

“Incorrect, I have walked in on _many_ unsavoury things,” he said.

“Okay then, Lucr-”

“Absolutely not,” she said.

“Well… shit,” Merle said.

“What if,” Lucretia said. “Magnus, Taako-”

“No,” Taako said.

“Why not?” Lucretia asked with a gentle frown.

“Yeah, why not?” Magnus asked, crossing his arms.

“Just…” Taako waved his arms about. “Why not, Merle, Davenport and me. And then Magnus and Lucretia.”

“What no, Magnus snores,” Lucretia said.

“Fine,” Magnus said. “Merle and Davenport, and Lucretia and Taako and I’ll just go sleep in the woods alone.”

“Magnus,” Lucretia said with a sigh.

“Suits me,” Taako said with a shrug.

“For God’s sake,” Davenport huffed. “Magnus, Merle and me will go together seeing as Merle and I are small enough to only take up one space, and Lucretia and Taako can go together and get their beauty sleep.”

“That works,” Lucretia said, pointing to a tent bag. “Well, Taako, time to make the tent.”

 “Ugh,” Taako said pulling his wand from his coat. He waved it about, and completely deadpan said, “Bippity, boppity, tent.” Sparks flew from his wand, trailing to the bag. It unzipped itself, and out flew the poles, pegs and a hammer. The canvas tent unravelled itself, the poles popped themselves together, bent and flexed, pegs flew about and stabbed into the soft dirt of the campsite. In a matter of seconds, one tent stood proudly.

“Don’t you think that takes all the fun out of camping?” Merle asked.

“ _No,_ it takes all the _work_ out of camping, so now I can go have fun,” Taako said.

“Well I like to have fun the old-fashioned way,” Magnus said, picking up his tent bag, “Come on lads, let’s pitch a tent.”

Davenport snickered.

“You heard me,” Magnus said. “It’s time to _erect_ this bad boy.”

Taako rolled his eyes as he reached into his handbag and pulled out his phone and headphones, sitting back on one of the large logs around the campfire area. A moment later Lucretia cracked open a book beside him.

Davenport reached into the bag, pulling the poles out and beginning to click them together. “Nothing like a _stiff_ pole to keep your tent tight,” he said.

Merle choked on the air.

 

“What are you reading?” Barry asked, coming up to sit beside Lucretia.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower, because I am a wallflower and would love to know what the perks are,” she said.

“I hope they are like Skyrim perks,” he said. “Personally, I want the one where time slows down when you use a bow and arrow.”

“I want the one which allows you to barter lower prices,” Lucretia said.

“You can do that in the real world,” Taako said. “It’s called being attractive.”

“Sounds fake but okay,” Barry said.

“So how is the tent going?” Lucretia asked, turning to look at Barry and Lup’s camp site which was just a pile of canvas.

“We gave up,” Barry said.

Behind them, Lup pulled out her wand, casting a spell at the pile of tent supplies. Nothing happened, and then a moment later the whole thing burst into flame.

“SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!” shouted Lup, running around in a circle, tugging at her hair. “Why am I so damn good at evocation but so terrible at not-evocation!”

“Woah, shit!” said Barry, scrambling back towards his girlfriend. A moment later everyone was jumping on the flattened tent, trying to extinguish the disaster. Everyone except for Taako who was filming his friends bouncing like they were on a defunct trampoline.

After they were certain the fire was out, Lup began tugging at the tent. “Magnus, will you help me?” she asked, a little teary eyed and her bottom lip quivering.

“Of course!” he said. Her face lit up before he added, “On one condition.”

“What is it?” she asked, falling into a scowl.

“Tell me why Grimmaldis owes you fifteen dollars,” he said.

“What?!” she looked stunned. “Wait, you remember that? I haven’t brought it up since… like last year?”

“Well, spit it out,” Magnus said. “We know about the vending machine, and the… uh… Rainbow dash toy.”

“Fucking hell,” Lup said. “How? You know what, no, I don’t even _want_ to know how you know any of this. Fine, okay. So last year, we had a field trip to the Phandalin Public Museum, and in the last hour of the trip we were taken to the mall across the road. So, I’m hanging out with Sloane when we hear this loud banging noise. And we follow it and there’s Mr Grimmaldis, stuck in the vending machine. His arm got stuck trying to reach up into it. Next thing mall security arrests him, and of course we both have our phones out but he says he’ll give us fifteen dollars each to stay silent about it, and especially don’t tell the school-board. But he had to pay the security guards part of a release fine, and he said he’d pay us back later and never did.”

“That… is the dumbest reason to not ruin a teacher’s career I have ever heard,” Taako said.

“What can I say, I’m a virtuous person,” Lup said. “After all I didn’t post that picture of you crying in the elevator.”

“I’m sorry what?” Barry asked.

“Taako’s afraid of elevators,” Lup said. “Ever since one Halloween episode of Upsy the Lifting Buddy featured someone getting stuck in an elevator, trying to crawl out and being cut in half.”

“On a kid’s show!” Taako shrieked. “How was that allowed to air?!”

Magnus, taking the tent pegs and his hammer said, “Taako’s afraid of many things.”

“Excuse me, says the man who screams when there’s a spider he didn’t see,” Taako said.

“Hey now,” Magnus pointed his hammer at Taako. “A fear of spiders is _logical_. Nothing needs that many legs except to use for pure evil.”

“They’re not even deadly,” Taako said.

“In Australia they are,” Magnus said.

“And are we in Australia?” Taako asked tersely.

“You never know,” Merle said, tapping his forehead.

 

 

Squinting out to the horizon, Barry almost didn’t notice the bag of trail mix Merle was rattling in front of him. “Oh thanks,” he said, taking a handful. He was slightly short of breath from the hike, but the lookout point was majestic and well worth the effort. Especially as the sun began to set, the water glittered as it cascaded down a cliff face.

“I’m gonna climb that before we leave,” Magnus said, pointing to the highest mountain in the nature reserve.

“And you’re going to climb it alone,” Merle said. “I like nature, but not _that_ much.”

“I’ll give it a go,” Lucretia said. “But I have a feeling you’re going to be faster than me.”

“It’s okay, I’ll walk it slow with you,” Lup said, reaching over Davenport’s small head to grab a handful of trail mix. Meticulously, she plucked the chocolates out before dumping all the nuts back into the bag.

They all watched the landscape for a while, the picturesque fruits of their labour. For Taako, literally picture-esque, as he spent the whole time trying to adjust the lighting of his photos. Choosing between his face or the environment having the proper lighting was an impossible decision for him.

“Let it be known, Magnus loves a majestic waterfall,” Magnus said.

“Good news for you pal,” Lup said, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. “I have _so_ many things planned for this trip. And there are at least seven other waterfalls on the list.”

 

 

The walk back consisted of the gradual collection of fire wood. Lighting the fire was easy enough with Lup in the crew, and their first meal was whatever each of them brought that could be cooked on a stick. Lucretia settled on a soy hotdog with bread, worriedly watching Merle eat nothing but marshmallows burnt to a carbon black crisp.

“So, Magnus you used to live in another country?” Barry asked. He cursed the way his nerves ran wild before starting a conversation. He cursed the way his voice squeaked when he actually spoke. However, he prided himself on taking a leap and actually creating an engagement.

“Yeah, I was born in Germany, I spent my first few years out in the countryside in a place called Raven’s Roost. So, when we moved here I got put a year ahead because of the semester difference across continents. But cause I was older than everyone else I made friends with Taako n’ Merle n’ Lup easier than my classmates,” he explained. “It was a big change but I think it was good. Especially for Dad to not be in such a big house now that my mom was gone.”

“Well, it sucks about your mom passing,” Barry said. “Sorry, I don’t really know… I’ve never been good at comforting people.”

“I don’t think anyone’s good at it,” Magnus said. “When I first heard about Lup and Taako’s parents, my response was, _‘Well that’s lame.’_ They told me like eight years ago, but my dumb fucking response haunts me to this day.”

Across the campfire, Lup snorted, and then burst out laughing.

“But the thing is… It’s like… over your life, over the years things change so slightly, just like little bit by bit. And then one day you realise you’re living a completely different life. Like… like I lived in Raven’s Roost when I was born till when I turned eight. And then I came to Neverwinter which was big change but I was still with my dad and still in primary school so after a few months, so it was easy enough to adapt. And then high school is scary when you’re twelve but a few months later you get the hang of it cause you’re eased into it. But then you take a car crash…”

Magnus’ brows furrowed tight, and tears began to well. Across the fire, he made eye contact with Taako and then Merle. Months of extremely strange hang outs shared between them. Magnus’ crying, and his depression. Irrational behaviour as a result of being broken, fighting through a turbulent mourning.

“It was just, if it hadn’t’ve been a crash, it would have just been a normal trip down to the store, you know? It would have been an ordinary fucking day and nothing would’ve changed. But one accident and everything’s different now. And I just… I wish I could just go back. So badly. I wished I could go back in time to just a few days ago. And then it was weeks. And now it’s more than a year. And it feels like it was a whole ‘nother life-time ago. Like it was someone else who lived that life.”

“I just… I can’t compare,” Barry said. “It just puts things into perspective. I was crying over a math assignment last week.”

“Well if this is depressing honesty hour in the IPRE group,” Lup said, scooting beside Magnus. “Everyone’s struggles are relative. There’s days where I’m upset that I can’t find the right lipstick, and days where I want to strangle my brother, but there’s days where I have literally lost people I love. So even if you… I don’t know, drop your lunch directly down a storm drain, it still sucks even though others have been through worse, even if _you’ve_ been through worse,” she said. “You have a right to your emotions. You’re allowed to be sad over the little things, and you’re allowed to be happy even when bad shit is going down.” She let out a deep sigh, wiping at her eyes. “Fuck you guys this camping trip was supposed to be fun.”

“So then why did you invite Magnus _‘I ruin people’s lives’_ Burnsides?” Taako asked, putting a marshmallow still burning and ablaze directly into his mouth.

“Wait what?” Magnus asked, dropping his blanket of misery with a drop of his jaw.

“Don’t you remember what happened the last time we all went camping together?” Taako asked through a mouthful of mush.

“What happened?” Barry asked, a sudden fear running up his spine.

Taako kicked Merle’s prosthetic arm gently, earning a disgruntled _‘Hey!’_ from the dwarf.

“Technically, Maggie’s responsible,” Taako said. “Go on, tell Barold how you lost your arm.”

“It’s _not_ Magnus’ fault,” Merle said.

“Completely,” Magnus added. “I’m still responsible.”

“You,” Merle said, pointing at Magnus. “Are too goddamn hard on yourself. It’s my fault too. Mostly. It was my decision to jump, you just-”

“-peer pressured-” Magnus muttered.

“-encouraged a stupid decision,” Merle said. “At our last school camp there was this big lagoon and the teachers wouldn’t let us use this rope swing that was perfectly set up there to jump into the water. Everyone else was scaling down and Magnus dared me to jump in. So I jumped, and the rope was a slippery bastard and I didn’t get a proper grip and fell and broke my arm.”

“See, Magnus’ fault,” Taako said.

“It was fun as hell though, almost worth the price,” Merle said. Magnus let out a small smile, cringing at the morbidity of the comfort. “One stupid thing, I wouldn’t call him a life-ruiner.”

“Excuse me, have you _already_ forgotten?” Taako asked jumping to his feet. “Have you all forgotten?! _He ruined my play_!”

“Wait is that why you’ve been pissy all day?” Magnus asked, standing to meet Taako’s gaze.

“Wait you’ve been pissy today?” asked Merle, standing up also, but having no idea why. “I thought that was just how you always are.”

“Yes I’m fucking pissed!” Taako shouted. In a burst of rage he threw a flaming marshmallow, but couldn’t decide on a target, and it soared between Magnus and Merle. Landing on the leaves, Lucretia clambered to stamp it out lest they face the wrath of Duck.

“That’s it!” Merle said. “Parlay!”

The group stood still, frozen, save for Barry who had no fucking clue what parlay meant. But for the others it was a rigid tradition from their childhood, like the Zone of Truth. Unlike the Zone of Truth, it had been made up by a teacher, shouted at them by beast of a man named Klarg. As they had grown older they had found the technique fairly useful. It was a minute of timed silence to calm down before a conversation took place.

Merle held his watch to his face, an arm in the air and at five seconds left his fingers counted down until the minute was over.

“Magnus I can’t believe you-’

“-Taako I didn’t ruin your damn play,” Magnus said as fast as he could. “I didn’t even touch your fucking stone.”

Taako’s face dropped. “Wait… you mean… my spell failed?”

“Or you cast it wrong or Lup’s rock just exploded, or anything.” Magnus did a big shrug. “I don’t know? I don’t know dick about magic!”

“So you… lied?” Taako said.

“To Grimmaldis and Istus, yeah,” Magnus said. “But I didn’t think you actually fell for it too. Hell, I’m sorry your play went wrong Taako. But I figured you shouldn’t get in trouble because… it’d ruin your ability to star in it next year and also you actually have like… a really good chance at your senior year next year.”

“What does that mean?” Lucretia asked sternly.

“It means my permanent record is already torn to shreds. And they were probably going to keep me down because I failed science. And I kind of realised I hate school. I can’t learn anything, and I when I do I don’t care about what they’re teaching me. So, I told all of this to Mr Waxmen last week and he said after my camping trip we’d sought out my future, which is the fucking scariest thing, cause how am I meant to enjoy my camp trip now?”

“Ex-fucking-scuse me?!” Lup shouted. Around the group, stunned silence, save for the crackle of a warm fire Davenport had dubbed the Starblaster due to the immense heat it gave off. It was nothing compared to the heat of Lup’s rage as she whacked Magnus in the head with a slap. And then his shoulder. And then she was assaulting him, albeit despite her strength, Magnus’ naturally large build blunted all of the blows to comical taps to his person. “You” – whack – “got” – whack – “expelled” -whack – “for my idiot brother?!”

“To be fair, I also got in trouble for the fights and for covering Angus’ ass,” Magnus said. “After I pressured him into getting in trouble.”

Lucretia rubbed her temples, heaving a sigh.

“You know what this really shitty atmosphere needs to calm things down,” Merle said. All eyes on him were 100% certain any suggestion he was about to have would be terrible. He rummaged about a bag before pulling out an enchanted boombox. With the press of a button, some terrible song began ringing out into the campsite. “A dance party!”

“No,” Taako said.

“Oh, come on grumpy pants,” Merle said, rising to his feet.

“I’m grumpy because my life was ruined three days ago!” Taako shouted.

“And me and Hekubar had a terrible argument before I disappeared on this camping trip… which I may have not told her about… but my point is, we all go through rough patches,” Merle said, taking Taako by both of his hands. Still pouting, the elf was dragged to his feet.

“This isn’t just a rough patch my life-”

“Is it really ruined though?” Lup said. “You did something embarrassing, welcome to being alive.”

“Ugh,” Taako said, having subconsciously begun swaying to the beat with the guidance of Merle.

Lup took Lucretia’s hands, making her disappointed scowl seep away. A smile, a rub of a thumb over the back of her hand, telling her, _It’s not your job to lecture your friends._

Davenport and Barry grabbed Merle by the hand and begun running in circles.

Before Taako could cross his arms and check out of the strange party, Magnus took his hands too.

“Let me show you a Raven’s Roost original,” he said. It was a strange folk dance, but rather than exchange partners, Magnus gave Taako a twirl. After a minute of the repeated dance moves, Magnus said, “See now you’re getting it. I know you like dancing. And not that weird bopping up and down people did at your party.”

“I wouldn’t’ve done jazz and tap for ten years if I hated dancing,” Taako said. Without realising it, he had started to put more sway into his steps, and a smile had creeped onto his face. A grin beautiful due to its dorkiness.

“You still dance when you cook,” Magnus said. “It’s a little terrifying when us amateurs are carrying hot plates.”

“Git good fam,” Taako said.

 

 

“Absolutely not!”

“Come on, you don’t even notice it after a minute or two!” Lup lied.

Taako peered down into the green lake water, shivering and feeling his balls shrink at the very thought of plunging into the freezing water.

“The water is _divine_ this time of year,” Merle said.

“You’ll have a _splashing_ good time,” Magnus said. Taako shrieked as Davenport cannonballed into the water and several droplets landed on his skin.

“It’s the middle of the day, it’s only going to get colder from here,” Lucretia reasoned.

“That does _not_ convince me!” Taako said.

“Well, maybe this will,” Magnus said, climbing out of the lake. Before Taako could react, Magnus hoisted him up bridal style. Taako’s screams echoed throughout the valley. A group of birds took flight out of fear.

“Don’t you remember the last time you forced someone into a pool on a camp!” Taako said.

“Yeah, but you’re a performer so you’re used to having your leg broken, and that’s kind of the same thing as an arm,” Magnus said, throwing Taako into the water. When Taako resurfaced his usually flouncy hair was soaked down flat on his face. “See, all limbs intact,” Magnus said, and then jumped in after Taako.

 

It took a few minutes of sunbathing on the shore for their bodies to warm up after the chilling swim. Taako warmed his fingers by weaving flowers into Lucretia’s hair, and Magnus scratched away the last of his chipped nail polish in the water. Merle had cracked open a nature book and he, Barry and Davenport spent their time trying to identify various kinds of birds and plants based on the outdated guide. Lup struggled to find a good channel on the enchanted boombox, after their swim had been dominated by 1970s classics. To her dismay, enchanted by Merle meant that good content was unfindable, save for when Highway to Hell come on and everyone paused mid-activity to have an impromptu air-guitar jam session.

 

 

“Would you rather…” Lucretia tapped her journal with her pen for a moment. “Eat a scorpion or a tarantula.”

Everyone else scrunched their face aside from Taako who shrugged his shoulders and said, “Everything’s a delicacy somewhere. Tarantula I guess.”

Tarantula was the reluctant consensus, besides Magnus who said, “Scorpion. I know it's kind of like a spider, but it's less like a spider than a tarantula which is a literal spider.”

“Fair enough,” Barry said.

Lucretia hastily scribbled their answers in her journal.

“Okay, Davenport would you rather,” Taako began. “Be thrown into a freezing lake by Magnus, or be thrown into a boiling lake by Magnus?”

“Freezing,” Davenport said. “There’s a chance for me to swim out and survive.”

“Good news,” Taako said, “That is a very real possibility which happened to me and we can arrange for it to happen to you too!”

Subconsciously Davenport leaned a little closer to the campfire. A stew in an enchanted floating pot began to steam, releasing a resplendent aroma into the campsite.

The rest of the consensus was cold lake besides Lup who insisted that she was borderline impervious to heat. “After all, half my baths are scolding hot, I’m basically a lobster by this point.”

 

 

The last thing Magnus remembered was being thrown into a boiling lake, and as he jolted awake he realised that he was basically boiling alive. In their tent, either side of him was Merle and Davenport, and their bodies were trapping the heat under the blankets and making him sweat. Each breath was like breathing inside of a furnace. Their bodies were also pressed against him, and Magnus couldn’t move away. It was beyond claustrophobic. And he had to leave. He had to get out of this imprisonment, immediately.

As agile as he could without waking either of his friends, he slipped out from his sleeping bag and made the smallest opening in the zip to fit his body through and dive out.

Outside was dark, lit only by the moonlight and the peek of a sunrise expected to properly begin in just under an hour.  He took a deep breath of the air which instantly chilled his body on the inside. Then he stretched, allowing his mind to adjust and calm to his new wilderness-sized freedom of space.

But as his body chilled on the inside he remembered that he was only wearing boxers, and quickly he was cold on the outside as well and covered in goosebumps and unable to recall the warmth he was just drowning in.

It began with him rubbing his arms, trying to keep the skin on the surface warm. Then he caught sight of his shoes, socks still wedged inside. Some form of clothes, sure. And he put them on, and the next logical step was to move, and before he know it, he was running. The further he got from the campsite the heavier and more carelessly loud his footfalls came, crushing branches underfoot, far from any routed trail. And soon his blood was pounding in his ears his mind grew lost in its adrenaline and half-asleep haze.

Dawn had only just begun to crack, and bird songs were obliterated from his hearing as his thoughts shifted to, for the first time in too long, nothingness. He just focused on the path ahead, treading, leaping and dodging to keep up his momentum and not trip along the way. He couldn’t feel his legs, as they carried him effortlessly. He didn’t feel the branches cut at his skin occasionally, or his muscles grow sore as they pumped away, taking him further and further towards nowhere in particular.

Running. It was simple, it was peaceful.

Time had become meaningless. All he could perceive was that he was now at a hill and he began to climb. The journey became harder and as his body slowed his mind began to process the pain in his muscles. By the last stretch he was on all fours scaling a particularly sharp angle of rock and branches, before he could hoist himself up onto the plateau.

There, he caught his breath. Having finally reached the top, Magnus stood and took in the view. It was the highest mountain on the reserve. Dawn was breaking with a golden orange sun just on the horizon accompanied by pink clouds. Most of the trees were still cast in shadow, and breathless Magnus muttered to himself, “Simba, everything the light touches is your kingdom.”

He listened to the songs of birds and cricket chirps and countless noises of nature waking up filled his senses, trying to focus over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Sitting down on the large rock beneath him, each heaved breath burned his throat, and he regretted that it was such a long journey back to the campsite. But he was a though boy and he knew he’d be fine.

Magnus dropped his head into his arms. The whole world was before him, but he needed his own little private space. And in the darkness he was afraid to let his millions of buzzing thoughts return all at once. So, he decided to let in one at a time.

Firstly, was Julia. He thought of her smile, a pose and a laugh which he could visualise perfectly, from a photograph he looked at often. He thought of her guitar music, her calloused fingers, and the time she leaned over him, helping him play. And that’s all he thought about. That one happy moment. And Magnus smiled.

Then he thought about his failed science project. He had worked hours on it. It had been a huge source of stress but it was absolutely nothing now that it was over, and it had been nothing in comparison to what he went through two years ago. But Lup had been right. His struggles didn’t have to compare. He had a right to be stressed over work. Despite everything. And he had a right to be upset about it now. Despite everything. But also, it was nothing. His conclusion, I have a right to be worried, and I have a right to not care. It was a boring project anyway, and a waste of my time.

What was next? He thought of Barry and Lup. He wasn’t sure why. He thought of the two of them reading silently side by side after last night’s dinner. He thought of them laughing together at the cafeteria table. He thought of their date photos on snapchat. “It makes me happy when my friends are happy,” he said out loud, only to himself and the cuts in his skin.

“I want to have someone,” he said. “I have a lot of friends, but I want intimacy.” And that was it. He let the words out and refused to judge them.

Then he thought of Taako. Thinking of Taako was naturally a scramble of chaos. Five million Taako voices fought for his mind space, but Magnus held the reigns and he demanded one voice to step forwards.

So he just heard the words “Abra-ca-fuck you!” and Magnus giggled. Taako really was a brilliant wizard. He wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t oblivious. And he didn’t need Magnus to protect him. No one had asked Magnus to be their body guard. No one had asked for his sacrifice. Maybe he was just looking for trouble. Maybe he was looking for fights where there were none. Maybe protection was an excuse. Maybe protection was a cover up.

Magnus thought on this for a while and when he started shivering he stood up again, and gave the horizon a final appreciative gaze before making a very slow journey back to the campsite.

His final thought, “I have time to figure things out.”  


When he got back Davenport and Lup were the only two awake, wrapped up together in a blanket and reading their own books in the early sunlight.

“Magnus, you’re back. And you’re mostly naked,” Lup said.

“Yes, I am, and yes, I am.”

“I woke up and you were gone,” Davenport said.

“Yeah sorry. I hope no one got worried about me,” Magnus said.

“He just thought you were just taking the longest shit ever,” Lup explained. “But we were going to organise a search party after an hour. Bloodhounds and everything.”

“Awww hounds, damn is it too late to go back into the woods?” Magnus said.

“Afraid so,” she said.

Magnus went to the eski, raiding it quickly for a snack and some water. As he practically drowned himself in water a rustling in one of the tents was soon followed by Taako emerging in the world’s fluffiest nightgown covering him head to toe.

Through squinting eyes, he shuffled over to sit beside his sister before regarding Magnus chowing down on a nutrition bar, covered in scrapes and blood and unshaven hair.

“You know, the underwear, trainers and socks really _is_ the worst ensemble,” Taako said.

“Says the guy in a JuicyTM night robe,” Magnus said.

“Excuse you,” Taako said, pressing his hand to his chest in offense. “It’s _trash chic_ thank you very much.”

 

 

The last full day of their camp was filled by a hike which Merle had been raving about since the trip began. The park’s main attraction was in the heart of the forest. Following a trail for three hours they eventually found the fallen statue of Marthammor Duin, an ancient deity. Covered in moss and broken cobble, it made for great social media content. Barry’s pride achievement was getting a forced perspective shot where it looked like Lucretia was picking Mathammor’s nose.

The next leg of the journey consisted of a man-built wooden bridge.

“You know, my family briefly were worshippers or Marthammor Duin,” Merle said.

“No way,” Davenport said.

“Yes way. Problem is, none of the kids could remember his name. And let me tell you, Pan is much easier to spell on the census.”

“Ridiculous,” Taako said.

“I don’t know, I’ve heard worse reasons behind people’s religions,” Magnus said. And it was the last thing he said, before the wooden strut beneath him cracked under his enormous weight.

For a moment, the world froze, as he slipped. Then the inertia made him think his body plummeted down a thousand kilometres in a second, but a great tug on his arm brought him back to reality.

When he opened his eyes, the bridge was above him, but so was Taako’s arm, outstretched and holding on. A moment later Merle’s arm was on his shirt and Barry had taken a hold of his other arm. Time frozen, arms outstretched, and slowly he was pulled back onto the bridge.

There was silence. Panting. Lucretia had her hands to her face in shock.

“Oh, I am absolutely going to sue the shit out of this park,” Lup said.

“Why?” Magnus asked.

“Because you have a fucking right to go on a holiday and not _nearly die!”_ she said flabbergasted.

For a moment Magnus was going to protest. Poor Duck Newton, recently nick-named Suck Newton by his friends, didn’t deserve the debt.

His mind flashed back to a few days ago.

An unusual emotion, extreme guilt and shame, coming with asking your step father for money to go on a camping trip just a few days after being expelled.

The confusion when Mr Waxmen said yes.

The question of why.

 _Being with your friends would be good for you_ , Mr Waxmen had said, as his therapist had said a year ago.

“You can’t spend your whole life rushing into decisions Magnus,” Lucretia had said, just last night, still unable to come to terms with Magnus’ expulsion. “You get in trouble, you rush into danger again and again, you get expelled, what’s next?”

“Well, hopefully I’ll rush into something good,” he had said.

And he had rushed and slipped, and his friends had caught him. Protecting them this whole time, although he had sought no reward, had paid off.

At home a fish swam around in its bowl, taken care of by Mr Waxmen in his absence. Something which was his responsibility.

All this effort, for a high school dropout.

He had a right to be angry at the world. He had a right to be alive in it too.

Because his life mattered.

Because, regardless of his failures, as Mr Waxmen had said,

As Lup said now,

And as he would learn to say to himself, again and again in the future,

“Magnus Burnsides, you have a right to be happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the Calendar for next Semester:  
> \- The big game  
> \- Prom night  
> \- Lucretia's secret  
> \- A graduation
> 
> So it turns out his name is Mr Waxmen not Waxman... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Thanks again to Jasmyn <3
> 
> Also reminder the next chapter is the last one (spooky)


	6. Semester 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the Calendar for this Semester:  
> \- The big game  
> \- Prom night  
> \- Lucretia's secret  
> \- A graduation

Six friends stood at their school lockers. Just under two years ago, the absence of Magnus had been strange. Then it had grown into their normal. His return had been strange. And then that had also grown into their normal. And now he was absent again, and it was strange once more. And they all wondered if this was what life was, just a series of things changing, and being uncomfortable about it and then eventually learning to deal with it until it became the new normal.

Another change was the way people looked at Taako. They stared, they whispered, they gossiped. It was a change from everyone wanting to be his friend, now seeing him as a topic piece for easy entertainment, and Taako began to realise this was all that he had ever been to them all along.

Kravitz’s absence was also strange. Taako had been dreading it, but the others hadn’t prepared for the impact it would bring. The realisation that they might literally, never see him again. Maybe once in the far, far distant future when they decided to go on a holiday to England but even that was a doubtful possibility.

“So how was your last date with Kravitz?” Merle asked.

“Good but terrible. It was some uh… to be honest it was quite a bummer. I didn’t want to waste my last few hours with him but also it’s hard to act like everything is normal,” Taako explained. “It was really fucked up. We had fun though.”

“And you’re still dating right?” Barry said.

“We’ve decided to give long distance a go,” Taako said. “I’m making enough from my Instagram that I might be able to visit him next Summer.”

“Haha!” Merle exclaimed. “Taakitz lives!”

“Taakitz?” Taako asked.

“Yeah that’s your shipping name,” Merle said.

“It sounds like a type of cracker,” Taako said.

Lup patted her brother on the shoulder. “We’re just happy you’re still together. It was clear that he made you really happy.”

“Yeah, I just… hope that he still does.”

“He’ll be the same Kravitz in England as he was here,” Davenport signed.

“But he won’t be _here_. And I don’t know how I will… how we will cope with that.”

 

That week they sat in classes, gained assignments, gained homework, were excited for some projects, and began dreading others. Gym class was the one Magnus’ absence was noted in most. A large positive force to which athletic and non-athletic students alike rallied behind to get riled up was gone. Even Mr Kalen seemed to miss Magnus’ antics.

One week later, six friends stood at their lockers together, complaining about assignments. Taako complained about not having something to do on a Friday night now that all his other friends were afraid he’d destroy their house with wayward magic and he had no boyfriend to take on dates.

One more week later, six friends stood at their lockers together. Lucretia asked Taako some advice on cameras, which Lup found intriguingly suspicious. At lunch, Barry fell asleep at the table after suffering insomnia from stress caused by a science project he was working on. He ranted about the useless teammate he had been forcibly assigned to, while across the cafeteria Lucian “Buttwatcher” ranted to his friend group about the nerd who kept pestering him on their science project.

Another week passed and Taako was glowing. Talking about how he and Kravitz had had a video call date where they did matching face masks and watched a movie together last Friday night.

And before any of them knew it, being back at school without Magnus and Kravitz had become their new normal.

 

Lucretia and Davenport sat at the back of their math class. The class was learning calculus, which they had both already learned three times in the past two years over various advanced math classes. It wouldn’t be until they moved onto integral calculus that they’d really need to pay attention, so instead they subtly played a bootlegged copy of Pokémon on their calculators.

Lucretia had placed a quick enchantment on their calculators, allowing their games to connect so that they could battle each other.

Lucretia stifled an angry scream as her Snorlax _Danny DeSleepo_ fainted to _ACDC,_ Davenport’s Pikachu. But she looked at her line-up and a delighted grin curled on her lips. Out popped _BoneZone_ her Cubone, loaded with ground-type moves ready to pulverise ACDC. Just as Davenport switched out ACDC to unleash kyShrek his Kyogre, both of their calculators began to burn in their hands.

Both of them shrieked, dropping their calculators with a loud clatter onto their desks as sparks flew everywhere. In a matter of seconds the calculators began to melt. Their teacher watched in stunned horror as plastic dripped onto the floor.

Davenport was, as usual, silent.

“Uh… we were… doing calculus and… the… they just… I think I accidently made my graph divide by zero?” Lucretia stammered.

The teacher’s jaw hung open.

No one was quite sure what should happen next.

“I guess… we’ll have to buy replacements before the end of year exam?” Lucretia said with a shrug.

“I suppose so,” the teacher said cautiously. She found their excuse unbelievable, but not quite as unbelievable as two of her top students misbehaving in class.

 

 

“Ango I’m starting to doubt your effectiveness as a sleuth,” Lup said pulling up a chair beside Angus, who was collapsed in his chair in the library.

Surrounding Angus was a pile of books, dozens of pens and scattered practice exams. Also, Angus had not moved.

Quietly she leaned closer to him, watching intensely. The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the quiet room; one… two… three… four seconds passed before Lup saw his chest rise and fall.

“Thank god you’re still alive,” she said, taking one of his pens and poking his arm with it. After a few more jabs, he bolted upright with a gasp. Glasses askew and hair haywire, he was disoriented for a moment before he realised where he was and what had happened.

“I fell asleep in the library again, didn’t I?” Angus asked, running a hand through his hair and straightening his glasses.

“When there’s vital work to do!” Lup said.

“Yes, I know I was hoping to get three more English practice essays done by the end of the week.”

“Well, apparently you had time to help Magnus out with hunting down _my_ fifteen dollars. So, when are we going to get to the bottom of Lucretia’s secret activity?”

“Lucretia’s what?” Angus rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry Lup but I’m busy studying for finals.”

“Too busy to help me, your bestest fwend?”

He took a moment, asking himself how he ever managed to put up with the twins.

“I’m sorry, this is a mystery you’ll need to solve on your own.”

 

 

“All dragonborn are queens!” shouted Killian.

“If she breaths fire, she’s a thot!” shouted Lup.

Barry rubbed his temples, re-reading the paragraph on the destruction of Phandalin. History wasn’t his favourite subject, it wasn’t his least favourite either, but most people despised it. Hence, yelling. Lots and lots of yelling. Across the classroom. Not learning a thing. Why did they even take this subject?

On the other hand, Edward and Lydia were extremely good at history. They seemed to know everything before the teacher had taught it, and Barry also wondered why they were in this class.

For the first time he realised he missed Kravitz. Mainly because they had worked together in this class. Actually, worked and not just shouted cheerleading songs across the room at each other, or sat in the corner silently judging the rest of their classmates.

He also missed seeing Kravitz around Lup and Taako’s house. Their conversations had always been brief and a little awkward, but they had been nice.

Beside him Davenport was asleep, head propped up in his arm, on the verge of slipping off the desk.

And Barry wondered if, despite having friends, and a girlfriend, if no one was immune to moments of loneliness.

He looked at a shitty drawing in his book, the only known visual representation of the dwarf who had destroyed the town of Phandalin two hundred years ago. He had been possessed by a gauntlet, or so the legend went. Unable to control the power it held.

He wondered what loneliness would lead to such a drastic mistake.

What desperation could corrupt someone so much.

Lup, swinging wildly back and forth in her chair bumped his hand, making his pen run across the page.

He was seventeen and had become acutely aware that over the past few years he had been experiencing anger.

_Your struggles are in perspective,_ Lup had said to him.

He looked at the shitty drawing of the dwarf, glad that his biggest worry was a history exam and not the fate of the world.

Magnus had dealt with anger physically. By building things, by fighting others, by running laps of the oval in the late afternoon.

Lucretia went off to be alone. To yell in hysterics where no one could see her break.

Barry tried to rationally sort through his emotions. To find solutions which didn’t involve talking to others. But being adolescent meant that his emotions weren’t rational. And these things were just so damn hard to figure out on your own.

 

 

Bundled in the back of a car together Mr Waxmen drove Magnus and Julia to Neverwinter High. At five pm it was still light outside and would remain so as springtime was drawing closer to summer.

Home for a long weekend, Julia was more than happy to accompany Magnus to the final football game of the school year. It was only a seven-minute drive to the schoolground, but Julia held Magnus’ hand and his heart pounded a mile a minute.

“Are you okay?” she asked, watching his leg bounce wildly.

“My hands aren’t like… Taako from TV hand scrub model soft,” he said.

She let out a gentle laugh. “Is that what you’re worried about? I _like_ your scars and blisters. It’s rugged handsome. A rustic charm,” she said. “Besides, look at my hands. They’re calloused as shit.”

Magnus took her palms running his fingers over the surface of her skin.

“Me and daddy used to live on a farm remember?”

“Yeah I remember,” Magnus said. In an instant he was taken back seven years, to running through fields of yellow grain, chasing after a giggling girl who he never ever would like, are you kidding me dad? She’s just a good friend.

He smiled and kissed her palm. She giggled, more mature now, a laugh sending far different emotions to him, but still ultimately summarised as joy.

“Watch it,” Mr Waxmen said from the front seat, momentarily peeking into the rear-view mirror. Through the small field of vision Magnus could see a smirk in his eyes.

“You’re so cheesy,” Julia said. “The both of you.”

“I thought I was charming?” Magnus said.

“That too,” she said. And their hands stayed linked.

 

Before the game was the cheerleaders’ performance. Team Sweetflips had prepared all year for this night, this performance, and were at least half of the show. And indeed, they pulled some sweet flips. It was a cheerleading performance so immaculate it would be impossible to describe with words.

Magnus was on his feet whooping cheers after the first backflip, let alone the next seven, and Julia joined him as a cheerleader pyramid began to build. The audience went wild as Carey did a triple somersault off the top of the tower landing in the arms of Edward and Killian, on her feet and holding her arms out to then catch Lup’s jump.

Every stunt was a blink-and-you-miss-it spectacular, which is why the sudden appearance of Mr Grimmaldis standing in the way of Magnus’ field of vision was highly frustrating.

“Mr Burnsides what are you doing here?” he asked.

From three seats behind them, Mr Waxmen watched precariously.

“I’m supporting my friends,” Magnus said.

“None of your friends play football,” Mr Grimmaldis said.

“No but they cheerlead,” he said. “Unless you don’t think cheerleading is as important as football is?” He added with a shit-eating grin.

Mr Grimmaldis did not seem pleased, and somehow his ever-present scowl deepened wearily. “Very well…” he said giving up and reluctantly waddling off.

Magnus and Julia both continued to watch the last of the cheerleading display, in awkward silence. The team pulled their final pose, holding letter signs reading _NEVERWINTER HIGH!_

“Well, Julia, there’s no more hiding it…” Magnus said. “I got expelled.”

“How long is your suspension for?” she asked.

“Its… indefinite. They won’t accept me back at Neverwinter High,” he said.

“Are you going to enrol somewhere else?”

“Obviously.”

“Wellllll,” she said dragging out the last syllable.

“Well what?”  
“I’ve been thinking about you, as I am one to do,” she said, standing and taking Magnus’ hands. “I’ve seen you when you’re crafting things. When you’re just in the shed with some music and some tools. The things you make, the treehouse, the toys, the furniture, it’s all beautiful. And Dad told me that you show off your crafts to everyone.”

“What else do I have to show off? My test scores?” he said laughingly. She smiled at him.

“It’s what I do with my work. It’s what I’m proud of. And woodwork is what you’re proud of. It’s your passion, Magnus.” Magnus began shaking his head, trying to stop her train of thought, but she continued. “Maybe you should enrol in a carpentry course, you don’t need a diploma to do it.”

Magnus shook his head more. “No, no I gotta finish school.”

“Why?”

“Because…” his mind froze to a halt. “Because I gotta go to university.”

“To study what?”

Again, he drew blank.

“I gotta… I’m not an idiot and I’m not a drop out,” he said defensively.

“Those are two different things. You’re a smart man, and no piece of paper is needed to prove that,” she said. “You’re one of the sweetest, bravest, most intelligent inspiring people I have ever met. Diploma or no.”

“I just… I’ve always had this belief that I have to finish school. That I need a degree and then a desk job. Earning big figures, making a name for myself. Wearing a suit and shaking hands. And anything less, anything like dropping out of school, means that I’m wasting my potential.”

“Well that logic only really works if you think that a trade job is less worthy of respect.”

“Of course not. Everyone deserves respect… I…”

“Give it some thought Magnus,” she said, lifting his hand to her lips and giving it a kiss. He sat forwards, taking her cheeks in his hands and guiding her face to his, kissing her deeply. The touch of their lips was serenity to Magnus. The whole world was turbulent, and he had expected Julia to simply tell him it would be okay. Or to provide the answer he wanted. But she had told him what he needed, and he was grateful. And their kiss brought that moment of unconditional love. It brought a certainty. That a lowly carpenter ‘deserves’ her as much as any other. Because she would never see him as lowly so long as she was looking at him, Magnus.

“You gotta stop looking for conflict where there is none,” she said. “Inside and out. You’ll only wear yourself thin.”

She reached out and tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. Then, ever so gently she ran a hand down his cheek. While her hands were calloused also, the touch was smooth and calculated. Like how a pianist’s fingers danced over a keyboard. It was feather light and tingled at the surface of Magnus’ skin. He reached out to do the same, but he felt like his own movements were clumsy. A shitty repetition of Julia’s excellence, like a mannequin to a dancer. But she smiled. And she blushed. And she made it so evidently clear, always, that she was falling in love.

 

As the game wore on, more and more of Magnus’ friends joined him and Julia in the stands. At quarter time Lucretia whipped out her phone. “Okay guys you have to see this terrible Buzzfeed quiz I found yesterday. I… God, it’s so terrible. _What is your teen name. First name, your least favourite soda, last name your favourite soda_.”

“Your teen name, what does that even mean?” Merle asked.

“Uh… mine is RC Jousta,” Magnus said.

“Rootbeer Surge,” Taako said.

“Um excuse me,” Magnus said. “Rootbeer is _no one’s_ least favourite soda.”

“It tastes like fizzy turnip, its atrocious,” Taako said.

The rest of the match was football. And they sure kicked the ball across the field. And points were scored. Magnus went wild with cheers as Lil Jerry scored a point. He missed playing football but watching it with his friends had its own euphoria.

Near the end of the match there was a brief debacle of Lup trying to steal Lucretia’s phone, as subtly as a Taako twin could be, which was not at all. She claimed it was to fill in the quiz, and Lucretia gave her a cautious look, but dropped the subject.

 

 

“Today class, I am very excited to begin our unit on The Planes of Existence,” said Mr Miller, pulling up a PowerPoint slide with a picture of 12 coloured disks. And to the surprise of the students, Mr Miller’s excitement seemed genuine.

His lecture began with a brief overview of how the planes were discovered, which to Mr Miller’s great pride, was a discovery made by his grandfather. Everyone laughed at a grainy photo Mr Miller had included of his grandfather, his mother and notably him as a 5-year-old boy in suspenders and a bowtie.

Then Mr Miller delved into the theory of the planes, his face especially lighting up when Taako asked a question about what is beyond the planes and he went on a tangent for ten minutes oblivious to most of his class secretly being on their phones.

“Mr Miller,” Merle interjected. “This is all completely different to what I was taught at Pan Camp.”

The colour drained from Mr Miller’s face for a moment. “Well… this is a public school… there are certain rules on what I’m allowed to say and what I’m… not allowed-”

Merle stifled a snort. “But what you want to say is that all the stuff I learned at Pan Camp was bullshit?”

“Yes,” Mr Miller said. “Well… I wouldn’t use that word, and you shouldn’t either… but that is not to say I don’t respect your beliefs I-”

Watching Mr Miller squirm, Merle cracked up laughing. “It’s okay I don’t believe half the hokey they tell me anyway, and I don’t even listen to the _other_ half.”

“Yes, but you’re not the only student in this class with a religious affiliation,” Mr Miller said. He sat down on the front of his desk, crossing his arms as he thought for a bit. “Religion in a teaching and research environment can be tricky. We must never let our personal beliefs get in the way of the facts. In any regard. If we hold an academic to great esteem and we discover something which de-bunks them. If we discover something which defies the theory of gravity, it is the theory of gravity which must be updated. Science changes to fit the facts, the facts must never change to fit the science. It’s the same for personal beliefs, such as religion. As scientists we must always be willing to admit when we are wrong.” He went silent for a moment, as all the students hastily, silently, attempted to psycho analyse their teacher.

“Uh… sorry the planar system, right, moving on…”

 

 

Once way back in year 9, Taako had been excited to study Shakespeare. After all, it was a play. English class was pretty crumby but surely having the opportunity to act and be dramatic in any class was going to be exiting?

He had been wrong.

And from _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ to _Romeo and Juliet_ , when he was now presented _Much Ado About Nothing_ he didn’t bat an eye of joy. It was the third day of listening to Mr Grimmaldis reading the play in a bland, completely deadpan voice, when he found that drawing stars in his note book just wasn’t enough to keep him sane.

Under his desk he pulled out his phone, scrolling through his Instagram notes over and over, barely registering what he read. Scrolling down his feed whenever he found a post with a dog in it he sent it to Magnus. He had become accustomed to Magnus replying almost instantly, back on his year off when he had nothing better to do, and then over the past year when Magnus had been equally bored in class.

Now the sent messages piled up and would remain untouched until Magnus returned home from the carpentry course he had recently been accepted into.

 

 

Despite everything, PE class would never be the same without Magnus.

His general welcoming attitude had always invigorated even the least active students. He made people feel like part of a team, like no-matter how small, their contributions mattered and were significant. It was athletic spirit which he had carried into and out of his football career, and even at his lowest had managed to uphold.

Now Killian was the only jock in the class, and she was naturally chosen as a team leader. For some reason Davenport was chosen as the other. He chose his team wisely, and his ability to sign play strategies when huddled gave his team a secretive advantage.

While not very good at most sports, he was able to use his small height to his advantage, sneaking around the court and diving through the legs of other players. Similarly, he found unique ways to use overlooked gifts of the teams he worked with to command them to victory. The one-time Davenport and Killian were partnered on the same team, devastation was wrought. Slowly Davenport had started making a name for himself. For the first time ever, Davenport had a reputation beyond the mute kid.

 

 

Lucretia sat at her desk which was neatly organised, with all the clutter tossed on her bed, out of view of the camera.

Well poised, practiced, she smiled, held up a novel displaying its cover and said, “Welcome, to the Bureau of Balance, I am Lucretia, and today I’ll be looking at the Kite Runner.”

 

Lup screamed. “Taako! Taako, Taako, Taaaaakooo!”

Downstairs Taako was just about to take a bite into the linguine he had just finished making, ready to judge his toasted pecan drizzle, when his dish rattled with the sound of his sister pounding down the stairs screaming his name.

“TAAAAAKKOOOOO I FOUND IT!”

Breathless, she slammed into the dining table shoving her phone in Taako’s face.

“Found what?” he asked, putting his fork down, unable to discern his palette with this much distraction.

“Lucretia’s secret! Look!” Lup passed him the phone. He began scrolling through a collection of videos on a YouTube channel. “There I was watching Jess the Be-header’s Amiibo Corner when this popped up in my recommended. Lucretia has a channel. They did a collaboration together. It has over half a million views. Lucretia has thirteen-thousand followers, and none of us knew about it!”

“What is this channel even about? All the thumbnails are just books,” Taako said.

“She reviews books, and like focuses on how diverse they are,” Lup said. “How well they balance cast or something. I just want to know why she never told any of us?”

“I absolutely _have_ to be on this show,” Taako said.

“I now fully understand why she never told any of us,” Lup said.

“I haven’t done anything since my TV commercials except gradually grow more popular on Instagram and ruin a school play. I want to _exponentially_ grow more popular on all social media, not linearly.”

“When was the last time you even read a book, let alone performed a literary analysis of one?” Lup asked.

“I’ve been watching a lot of Masterchef Junior. Does that count?” Taako asked.

Lup crossed her arms. “Sure. Why not.”

 

 

“If we turn to page 560, we can see that Bralm’s word clearly contradicts the Lyris’s decree, thus creating a paradox in practice,” Merle explained, pointing to the religious studies text book.

“I’m still not getting it,” Lucretia said. “How is the word of Bralm relevant to us studying the decrees of Lyris?”

“It means that to be a follower of both would create a contradiction,” Merle said.

“But aren’t deities meant to be all-knowing, why should there be any contradiction?” she asked.

“They’re not all-knowing some are just party deities or like, horny deities… Listen the point of high school isn’t to think about what you learn, it’s just about learning enough to pass your exams,” Merle said. “Like… professionals study this crap and can’t figure it out, how are we?”

Lucretia ran her fingers through her hair. “UGH! I don’t just want to learn things though, I need to understand them, and this makes no sense.”

Mrs Paloma give her a quizzical look over her half-moon spectacles, quirking a smile. “The gods work in mysterious, nonsensical ways Lucretia,” she said.

“They work in dumb ways,” Lucretia muttered. “Why did I even take this class?”

“To quote Lucretia from about a year ago, _Easy credit_ ,” Merle said.

“Yeah easy credit. All it costs is about half my sanity.”

 

 

“I am absolutely going to murder that man,” Carey said, gritting her teeth. “Planes of existence, when am I ever going to use this crap?”

Magnus took her textbook, looking at the pictures on the page. “I suppose we like… exist in it so technically we’re always using it?”

Carey poked her tongue out at Magnus. “Yeah, yeah but I did fine living on these planes not knowing anything about them. And besides hearing about all these other worlds, its weird and terrifying… What about you, how’s your technical school going?”

“So good,” Magnus said, lighting up. “First assignment, building a chair. How dope is that?! You get to like… keep it too.”

“I’ve never seen someone so excited by woodwork before.”

“In our third year we get to carve with soul wood and you can make some crazy shit with that. Imagine like… like a rocking chair but it can rock itself and mould to the shape of your butt!”

“Actually, you know what, that is really cool. So much cooler than this shit,” she said, hitting her text book. “I wanna be a cop, how does perfectly round emeralds help me at all?”

“What if the bad guys come from another plane of existence? What’s the crime busting law in the… plain plane?”

“There’s nothing in that plane so I imagine the crime rates are fairly low,” she said.

 

 

“Today’s the day all your hard work is finally judged,” Mr Sazed said, rubbing his hands together.

Cooking class was the smallest class at Neverwinter High for a senior level elective. Lup and Taako had spent all semester designing and practicing for this final exam. One by one each student presented their cakes, four hours’ worth of decorating having gone into making masterpieces fit for a wedding. Most cakes looked _good,_ but they weren’t _great_ , which is what Taako and Lup told themselves as they eagerly awaited their turn. What the twins aspired for was originality in design and in flavour.

Lup was first and Mr Sazed gave her high appraisal for her cheerleader themed cake. The faces of each of the cheer squad was accurately sculpted in fondue and white chocolate and he praised how structurally sound the edible cheerleader pyramid was, however she lost points due to the fact it was unappealing conceptually to bite the head off of a bunch of teenage boys and girls.

Taako’s cake was a masterpiece as well. It was a burning auditorium. It had fire made from jelly and hand painted fondue made to look like wooden splinters. He had, of course, taken dozens of photos for his Instagram before Sazed ruined the cake by cutting into it for a taste.

Pleased with their teacher’s comments, the whole class fell dead silent when Joaquin stepped forwards. While undoubtedly, he had been in their class all year, no one had really taken note of him. However, he stepped forwards with a cake which was shaped like a taco vendor. It was almost life-like, as if he had simply taken a shrink ray to the real deal. The entire class crept forwards to take in the details of the mini tacos lining the shelves and the readable menu board.

Taako was highly offended.

 

 

Magnus was perfectly comfortable wearing his suit jacket over his t-shirt with a printed tie on it. Sadly, he didn’t get even close to getting away with it. Mr Waxmen wrangled him into a shirt and black tie, “They would turn you away at the door, boy.”

Despite the tie’s uncomfortable pressure around his neck going against every survival instinct he had, it was worth it. Julia deserved his best. He and Mr Waxmen had flown down to Phandalin just for her, and not a second had felt wasted.

Magnus waved Mr Waxmen goodnight, leaving their shared hotel room to borrow the car. Following his GPS, it was twenty minutes and only two wrong turns later until he had found his way to Phandalin Academy.

At the Academy’s gates, Magnus stood fairly nervous, surrounded by strangers who all were partnered up or grouped with their friends. Despite his shirt and waxed hair, he was the high school dropout, and all of these people were the high achieving prestigious honour students. They didn’t have cuts and bruises under their shirts. But through the faces and voices, Magnus saw Julia. As always, she was breath takingly beautiful, and she beamed a warm smile at the sight of him. She ran over to him with a squeal and he lifted her into the air spinning her around in her prom dress

“Magnus, Magnus! Everyone this is Magnus!” she beamed proudly.

Placing her back on the ground Magnus began shaking the hands of Julia’s friends, who were all equally dressed up and excited.

“You look amazing Julia,” he said to her, after the introductions.

She hiked up the hem of her dress waving the worker’s boot she was wearing on her feet. “I can’t stand heels. And hey, you don’t look bad yourself.” Finally, with a great big smile, Julia interlocked her arm with Magnus’ and began leading him inside her school.

“Oh hey Magnus, that dark ashy bit is where the original building barely survived the great fire of Phandalin,” one of her friends explained, pointing at the old stone building.

 

Taako and Lup, as always, did their make-up side by side. Lup wore a sky-blue dress, with silver eyeliner to match her silver jewellery. Taako had gone for a suit the colour of pink tourmaline, with his main accessory being a raven broach Kravitz had mailed him a few weeks ago.

When there was a knock at the front door, Lup effortlessly glided down the stairs in her heels. It was the first time either of them had seen Barry in a suit, and while neither would comment on the fact that the material looked cheap, they were both genuine in saying that Barry looked nice. In fact, Barry and Lup did an almost dance of squealing and complimenting each other.

They posed together on the stairs in several positions, while Taako photographed the two, taking care to detail Barry’s matching shirt to Lup’s dress. They smiled, and kissed, and posed like spies. Together they were happy and Taako was happy too. Happy to see his sister so in love and so at peace.

Taako posed on the stairs, voguing with all his might to make sure when Kravitz received the photos, they would be entertaining, but also like sexy, you know?

A photo was taken with Taako kissing Barry’s cheek, and a post to his Instagram hoping it would spark a publicity scandal. Many photos were taken of the twins, although for the first time their outfits clashed, because Lup was dressed to match Barry rather than her brother. They were sure they would look back at their year book one day with regret, but that was a worry for another time.

The three travelled to school together, with Taako driving and Lup shotgun. Barry didn’t mind being in the back, especially since he spent most of the ride hunched forward talking as if they were all side by side.

 

Davenport was no fashionista. All he really had was a suit and shirt, and some moustache wax. If he was going to be one of the few kids at school with a moustache, he was going to wear it over the top and with great pride.

When Lucretia came out from her bathroom she gave a twirl in her floor length dress. “How do I look?”

Davenport gave two thumbs up, and it was good enough for him and it was good enough for her.

They took photos of each other before heading out. Davenport of course, was the driver. On the trip Lucretia sent Lup a photo of her dress, quickly receiving a ton of fire emojis and that 100 with the line under it, and Lucretia giggled careless and blushing. While having a crush could be heartbreaking, there was no denying it was certainly fun.

 

“Merle, you look like you put your clothes on in the ride over here,” Taako said, plucking at an unsightly crease in Merle’s suit.

“That’s because I practically did. I spent the whole night worryin’ that Heckuba would be here.”

“It’s the school prom, _of course_ she’s going to be here,” Taako said. “Is… is that a napkin in your front pocket?”

“We didn’t have any handkerchiefs at home.”

 

Principal Istus gave a generic speech about the great behaviour and academic performance of her students. It was very inspirational and a complete lie to anyone who had been on school grounds for more than a day. It took her ten minutes to finally reach the part everyone had been waiting for.

“Firstly, prom king,” she said. Taako brushed some lint from his suit. “This young man has proven to be a great influence amongst his peers.” Taako’s eyes caught Edward, who straightened his tie. “And is fully and without a doubt, deserving of this title.”  Edward shot him a wink. Taako’s eyes narrowed and a grin spread on his face. “It is with my greatest pleasure, to announce that this year’s prom king, as selected by popular vote, is… Angus McDonald!”

A roar of applause filled the room. Angus was practically carried to the stage as his Caleb Cleveland Cult chanted his name over and over. He took off his top hat, and threw it into the crowd like a Frisbee, before graciously accepting his crown.

“Hello friends,” he began. “I’d like to thank you all for following me through the greatest mystery of all, high school. I wish the best for those who still have a long way to go, and remember, no puzzle is too complex. All you need is a critical mind and the right friends.” The applause was raucous, and not for the first time, the IPRE group found themselves wondering how such a cool kid had ever remained their friend. Lucretia paused her video recording and began sending the speech to Magnus.

“And secondly, the prom queen,” said the principal.

“Because what kind of heteronormative school would we be without a prom queen,” Lup murmured to Taako. Taako ignored her to wallow in his own misery.

“This young lady has, at the very least, excelled in her studies. She has… certainly been _an experience_ to teach and has made herself a permanent reputation amongst the faculty. Our prom queen, as chosen by popular vote, and certainly not by choice of the teachers… is Lup.”

The cheer was just as loud, and Lup stood stunned for a moment before Barry gave her a gentle nudge. She made her way on stage, accepting her crown and standing at the microphone.

“Thanks for voting for the better twin,” she began. Taako flipped her off, and she smiled back at him. “I’ve always wanted a crown, and it’s about damn time I got one. Although I don’t really know why y’all voted for me.”

From the crowd a random voice shouted, “It’s because you burned down some of the school.”

“Oh, well in that case, you’re very welcome,” she said, pulling a curtsey. “Stay in school, don’t do drugs, peaaaace.” To finale her speech, she shot a few sparkling cantrips into the air, making many teachers flinch and glance in the direction of the fire extinguisher.

As she jumped back off stage a song began and she and Angus took hands and made their way to the centre of the gymnasium, where a circle of space was left for the two of them. Although a dramatically romantic song, the two began dancing the Charleston, or at least some on the spot butchering of it, and soon everyone joined in.

Prom night was also the first time anyone had seen a robot dance. Carey, Killian and No-Elle were a strong presence on the dancefloor, and most people stayed clear lest they be kicked by sweet flips. However, as the music mellowed into slow tracks, their dancing did too. Romantic and sweet and oblivious of the judgemental looks of the adult chaperones who were reluctant to believe that any of these tiny precious children were in relationships.

Further on in the night, Lucretia was pulled from her phone-based sphere into a dance by Lup. The hand on her hip made her heart race and spinning Lup around made it sing.

Merle danced like the world wasn’t watching and like he didn’t care what anyone thought of him, and both of those things were true.

From a distance Davenport watched Merle reconnect with Heckuba, the two dancing terribly before slipping into the bathrooms presumably to make out. Davenport too was drawn from his solitude by the swarms of footballers who had recently adopted him as their strategist, and while absolutely tiny in comparison he was their leader in a conga line wrapping around the gymnasium.

 

 

The last class of the year for Taako was magic class. Everyone had received their final marks back, which meant absolutely no work would get done, regardless of the fact that this was many people’s favourite subject.

Mr Jenkins was reading from a long list of recommended books they should read over the summer break which everyone promptly ignored.

Lup stared out the window, tugging on her shirt, longing for a cool breeze to blow through the overheated building.

“Mr Jenkins can we just watch a film now?” Taako asked.

Mr Jenkins looked angry to be interrupted, however he too was weary from the semester, and it was the first time since the lesson’s beginning that all of his students actually were awake and paying attention to the front.

“Sure, what _educational_ film about magic do we want to watch?” he asked. “Remembering that the school has a requirement of G or PG only.”

Everyone looked amongst themselves.

“Finding Nemo?” Lup suggested.

Everyone half-assed nodded.

“Okay, sure, we can watch… the first forty minutes of Finding Nemo, I guess,” Mr Jenkins said checking his watch. And believably, that was the coolest thing he had ever said.

 

 

The summer sun beat down hard on the football field. The parents who wore suits tugged at their collars, fanning themselves with the paper programs they held. Even those in dresses still struggled and sweated through the graduation ceremony.

On the outskirts of the temporary auditorium, several students in their typical day casuals were watching their older friends graduate. With the exception of Taako, Lup, Merle, Lucretia, Barry and Davenport, who were all waiting for their _younger_ friend to graduate.

They had reached the K sir names when Taako pulled a large handheld fan from his school bag, and in the breeze it made, he shimmied his hair as though it were a wind machine. Adding to the look were gigantic shades which hid half his face like he were an a-list celebrity looking for privacy on a day on the town.

The announcer reached the L names, and the IPRE group could see Angus climb on stage, his spot in the line so close to being called.

It was when the first M name was called, that they heard the distant rattle of a chicken wire fence. Trying to keep it discrete the members of the group resisted looking in the direction of the fence, and a minute later a heavy breathing panted voice whispered, “Hey guys.”

Trying to blend in, Magnus stood amongst them with sweaty messy hair and a face red from blood rush. “It was hard to get past Mr Kalen guarding the school entrance like a hawk. But I made it.”

At that moment, the announcer called, “Angus McDonald.”

The boy detective stepped forwards, shaking the principal’s hand and accepting his certificate. In the student crowd, the IPRE gang clapped, and there were a few whistles and cheers from his friends in the Caleb Cleveland Cult. Magnus jumped in the air, shouting, “Whoop! You fucking go Angus!” Despite the embarrassment, Angus giggled.

The principal turned wide eyed, spotting the expelled boy. “Magnus!” she shouted.

Magnus went wide eyed. “Gotta go!” he said to his friends and began to bolt away. Several gym teachers followed his pursuit, but he was faster and more nimble, thanks to Carey’s karate training. He scaled the school fence with cat bugler ease and disappeared out of sight.

 

 

Taako sent a goodnight text to his boyfriend before joining the rest of his friends on the beach. School was out, and they were going to enjoy the summer regardless of the fact it was pitch black dark. The roaring water soaked them all, and they screamed and laughed and swore and play fought long into the night.

Unlikely friends, near and far connected by bonds old and new and growing stronger or weaker with each passing day, each passing interaction.

Children played in the water, lost in the dark unaware that they would be fumbling and tripping blindly for the rest of their lives. But by following the voices of those they love, and keeping someone nearby to watch out for them, they always resurfaced.

Young adults wondering when they would feel like just adults. When they would finally understand everything. Unaware that this would never be the case.

Each and every one of them hoping they would grow up to be amazing.

Unaware, that they already were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next, a very brief epilogue...


	7. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup fixes her year book

One year later, after returning home from her graduation Lup grabbed a sharpie and some sticky tape and made a small amendment to the last year book she would ever receive from Neverwinter High.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhh.... hopefully the images load hahaha i know it’s terrible on mobile  
> if not you can check them out here:  
> http://apocahipster.tumblr.com/post/176144481649/heres-the-graduation-year-book-photos-from-my
> 
> Obviously these are just my headcannons and you're free to have whatever beautiful ones of your own (share them w me if you feel so inclined).  
> Thank you so much for reading, if you got through this massive thing I love you, like legitimately, love.
> 
> You can read my authors notes here if you really want but tbh they were mostly written for my own sake:  
> http://apocahipster.tumblr.com/post/176144086649/heres-just-some-authors-notes-for-the-huge-taz


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